2020 has been a very different year
than normal for all of us. COVID-19 has affected everyone in ways we never
thought would happen, and for the most vulnerable of our communities, it has
made life even harder.
For many in our community, the shutdown means no job, no opportunity to earn money, and no guarantee of food on the table. Nearly 20% of Bellingham visits the food bank on a regular basis, according to data released by the Bellingham Food Bank, and COVID has only made it more difficult for already struggling families to get the food they need.
Normally,
this time of year would have Bellingham’s Pickford Film Center busy with people
lining up, ordering popcorn, and enjoying films entered in the CASCADIA
International Women’s Film Festival. But the COVID-19 lockdown changed all
that.
This year,
the festival was forced to screen its official selections online. What makes CASCADIA
unique, is that it’s one of only five film festivals in the U.S. to showcase
films directed and co-directed by women.
In the past two weeks, the coronavirus toll in the U.S. surpassed
100,000 deaths, people around the world protested against the killing of George
Floyd, and more than 400 journalists have had their First Amendment rights
infringed upon.
The unjustified deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud
Arbery, sparked a series of protests beginning on May 26 all over the country and
the world. Since that first day, journalists have had their voices and their
rights stripped away as police officers everywhere threaten, arrest, and
physically attack them for covering these protests.
As the pandemic continues, people have been forced to be creative
and develop new ways to get together apart.
In an effort to stay connected and ditch the gloomy COVID
cloud hanging over everyone’s head, Kulshan Brewing Co. has moved its regular
trivia night online.
While veterans of this weekly tradition have the in-person
application down, the transition to online has proved to be somewhat difficult.
“There have been some kinks to work out,” said Whatcom Community
College student and Kulshan trivia host Dylan Albrecht.
Whatcom
Community College’s Health and Wellness Committee will not be meeting this
quarter due to necessary social distancing, but this does not mean the end of
student aimed resources, says a partner and developer of Whatcom’s Orca Food
Pantry.
Catherine Chambers is an AmeriCorps Vista who has been partnered with
Whatcom’s Student Life and Development Office, working to explore what student
hunger means for our college community.
