South Jersey Group Using Something As Simple As Chalk To Inject Hope Into Health Care Workers During Pandemic
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- Signs of hope in Camden County. A group of do-gooders is using chalk to make the world a little brighter during the coronavirus pandemic.
Something as simple as chalk can change someone's world.
"We draw hearts and rainbows and one of the marketing directors asked to draw angel wings and we did that," Liz Solitro said.
Solitro is one of five people at Barclays Rehabilitation and Health Care Center now banded together as The Chalk Squad.
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It started when she noticed that RothKoff Law Geriatric Care Coordinator Chelsea Ganssle had a pack of them on her countertop.
"I said, 'wow I think that's a really powerful idea,'" Solitro said.
Like Zorro with words sulfate, their mark is a hashtag, #YouGotChalked, along with uplifting messages at Camden County health care facilities that greet workers when they come in and when they leave.
"We've had some executive directors come out and join us," Ganssle said. "One came out in a unicorn costume to be able to take funny pictures. It's been a lot of fun."
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With every box of chalk opened, every message scribbled onto the sidewalk, The Chalk Squad is trying to inspire one thing.
"We all have that sense of hope. And if you're not feeling it today then you're going to walk out after that difficult shift and The Chalk Squad will be there to make sure that that hope is there," Solitro said.
In a week-and-half, these outline outlaws have hit 10 rehab centers and health care facilities with plans to expand their operation to other counties in South Jersey soon.
"We see what these workers are going through and these people are our friends," Ganssle said.
