Coming together (at a safe distance)

So much can happen in just one week. Or overnight. Even in a moment.

This past week may have brought us immense challenges, but it has also brought us opportunities to show how our community comes together in support.

And what we've seen is heartening.

After the schools closed at the end of Thursday, so many people had expressed concern for the families who count on school lunches that the Copley Outreach Center created a Facebook page to make sure those people knew the best way to help.

And within 24 hours, a GoFundMe account was up and running. That account has already raised over $3000 so far and it continues to grow.

Meanwhile, social media abounds with stories of friends and neighbors checking on each other and finding novel ways to stay connected and grounded - maintaining social distance without succumbing to emotional distance or even complete isolation.

Each day brings another round of businesses needing to close their doors, or at least get a little more creative in how they operate, right at a time when the rest of us are generally coming out of some form of winter cocooning.

Small businesses truly are the heart of any community and yet are more vulnerable to such dramatic fluctuations in business activity, particularly those that are newer.

And we have a fair number of newer around Copley Township and in The Loop.

So we hope you'll consider ways to support your local small businesses first - ways such as placing phone orders or buying gift certificates now to use sometime after operations return to normal.

Maybe you can simply help spread the word on their behalf!

Status updates for how each member is approaching the situation (including a menu for Twisted) are being added to individual member profiles* on loopincopley.com as they become available. Events on the Loop calendar have also been updated through the end of March and will continue to be updated as quickly as possible.

On behalf of your community and members of The Loop, as always, thank you for your support.

*Click here for the full list of Loop members (with links to their individual profiles).