WHEELING, W.Va. — Frontline workers in the City of Wheeling have been honored with a special day.
‘Friendly City’ officials marked Monday as Frontline Worker Appreciation Day as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to make its mark across the state.
The day was created at a recent city council meeting when Mayor Glenn Elliott read a proclamation to recognize those workers including first responders, police officers, health care professionals and other essential workers such as warehouse workers, delivery workers, postal workers, construction workers, grocery store clerks, truck drivers, gas attendance and other public servants.
“We need to think of them as the unsung heroes during all this,” Elliott told MetroNews on Monday. “They have kept things moving forward here in the city while a lot of us have been working from home and trying to prevent the spread of this virus. They have not had this luxury.”
To start the day, local businesses gave away free lunches to those workers out in public during the entire global health crisis. Other businesses and organizations such as Ziegenfelder’s, Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream, Wheeling-Ohio County CVB, Miklas Meat Market, and more provided snacks, desserts and goodie bags throughout the day. City employees were treated by the city for their efforts.
In the afternoon, bells rang at churches throughout the city and on Monday evening, downtown buildings and neighborhoods across town are scheduled to be lit up to honor workers.
Elliott said Wheeling would be nothing without the people working through the pandemic.
“Where would we be if we didn’t have trash being picked up, if we didn’t have first responders, if we didn’t have our health professionals working, where would we be,” he said.
“You start peeling back a few of these occupations who have continued to show up and very quickly you would realize you are not even living in a city anymore, it doesn’t even look like civilization.”
Today is Frontline Worker Appreciation Day in @CityofWheeling! We are getting ready to deliver treat bags to frontline staff employees at our Wheeling/Ohio County hotels as a thank you for their hard work during these challenging times. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lGUPKHdZr2
— Visit Wheeling, WV (@WheelingVisitor) August 3, 2020
Elliott is confident in the city’s rebound to the virus. He said there has been a reduction in the sales and B&O tax revenue but the city has been able to offset that with CARES Act funding.
According to him, local businesses are the ones hurting and have seen sharp decreases compared to 2019. Elliott said it “takes the wind out of your sails” to see much less activity in the downtown business district that the past and present city council has built up.
“We have to be smart, we have to be wearing masks, we have to be socially distant so we can beat this thing because if we don’t do it now we could still be fighting this pandemic a year from now,” Elliott said of how to help these small businesses.
“I don’t know how a lot of these retail businesses are going to be able to survive much longer.”
Elliott said the city manager is looking into giving bonus pay to city workers who have worked overtime during the pandemic.