on the cover
Show a
little heart
May we interest you in the
Happy Heart Hunt?
By GRETCHEN AMMERMAN
For the TODAY
It doesn’t take much hunting to find
stories that inspire hidden among the tales of
suffering brought on by COVID-19.
From people working on the front lines
ensuring continued access to groceries to
medical workers daily exposing themselves
to possible infection, heroes can be found
almost anywhere you look.
One family has found a creative and
extremely generous way to step in in this
time where extraordinary measures are
needed.
“We are not frontline workers so at first
I was thinking, ‘I am of no benefit.’” said
Helene, [last name held by request] the
family matriarch. “But there are so many
other ways we can help them. We have
friends that are in the medical community
that are being potentially exposed on a daily
basis, so we offered to take their kids in to
live with us until this is all over to reduce the
risk of them unknowingly bringing home the
virus to their kids.”
The boys, aged six and 10, have
doubled the number of kids in the home,
which already included a four- and an
eight-year-old.
Because they have to keep coming up
with ways to keep the kids entertained
at their home, now dubbed “Camp
Quarantine,” the makeshift family takes
full advantage of the wonderful resources
being provided by the community at large.
A particular favorite is the Lincoln City
Cultural Center’s Creative Quarantine
program, which includes a weekly
distribution of children’s art packets filled
with activities and supplies carefully curated
by arts educator Krista Eddy.
“My kids love the art projects that they
get from the Creative Quarantine and they
love sharing them online,” Helene said.
“Krista’s projects have brought many smiles
to our kids and I know to many more kids in
the area.”
One of the Creative Quarantine projects
that they have worked on is creating paper
hearts to put in their windows as a way to
bring some positivity into a sometimes dark
and uncertain time.
“Unfortunately, because of where we
live our happy hearts windows can’t be seen
KATIA KYTE
Sasha Kyte with her Happy Heart Hunt display
from the street,” Helene said. “But they are
definitely making us happy so that’s good.”
The hearts are part of a contest going on
throughout May, the Happy Heart Hunt, a
partnership between the cultural center, the
Lincoln City Kiwanis Club and the Lincoln
City Outlets. The winner will receive a
$100 gift card that can be used at any of the
businesses in the outlets once they receive
the all clear to begin opening for business.
“I’ve seen stories about what different
towns are doing to encourage people to put
fun things up in their windows,” said Lincoln
City Outlets Marketing Manager Sharyn
Jasmer, who is also a member of Kiwanis.
“I’ve seen pictures of teddy bear parades and
snowflakes as well as hearts, but I thought
the hearts were a good fit for Lincoln City
so I was chatting with Allyson [Longueira]
at a Kiwanis meeting and said I thought it
might be a great idea for Kiwanis since our
mission is to support kids. She got excited
about it and got the ball rolling on making
the partnership happen.”
To participate, simply decorate one
or more windows in your home, take a
photo and post it to Facebook on the @
lincolncityculture or @lincolncitykiwanis
pages. The gift card winner will be selected
on June 1. You can also participate by
helping get a winner selected by commenting
on window posts.
“We’ve been getting lots of questions
about the contest including if you can
participate from out of town,” Jasmer said.
“Of course you can, but what we really want
to see is our town filled with hearts.”
Though the roughly 200 kits Eddy
distributed were all claimed, ideas and
inspiration for heart creation can be
found on the Facebook pages or in
a video Eddy created, found on the
cultural center Facebook page under
videos, showing how to make a “stained
glass” window. A project sheet is also
available at lincolncity-culturalcenter.org/
happy-heart-hunt-april-30/.
“The stained glass hearts were funded by
Kiwanis,” Eddy said “We added that design
to give kids more to options for designs, but
we still want people to add their own ideas.
It’s not an art contest; it’s about getting
involved and showing your neighbors that
you are there. The Happy Heart Hunt and all
of our art kits in the Creative Quarantine are
allowing us to continue creating community
art projects, which is remarkable in this time
of social isolation.”
No matter what form it takes, finding
a way to open your heart is one of the best
ways to weather tough times.
“There are so many things we can do to
help others,” Helene said. “If everyone does
something, we’re going to get through this.”
•••
The next set of creative quarantine kits on
the theme, “Magic Week,” will be available on
Thursday, March 26. Parents and caregivers can
drive through the cultural center parking lot at
540 NE Hwy. 101, from 1 to 3 pm.
oregoncoastTODAY.com • facebook.com/oregoncoasttoday • May 15, 2020 • 7