Young Pros Weigh In: Pay it Forward to Lake Tahoe’s First Responders
By Liz Lundholm. Printed in Tahoe Daily Tribune, March 29, 2107
This has been one heck of an epic winter for Tahoe! All of the praying for snow that we did for the past few years has finally been answered. This is the best season we have had in years and the skiing and riding has been unbelievable.
But let’s not forget about our first responders.
As we have seen with road closures, power outages and personal property damage, these storms have also been very taxing on our first responders. Road crews, utility workers, plow trucks and emergency responders — residents of our community — have been working night and day for weeks on end to ensure that we have safe roads, power in our homes and access to emergency services. They have not had a chance to try out their ski boots, rather they have been in their work boots non-stop. They have kindly been referring to this season as “Stormegedon 2017.” Without them, our community would not be functioning.
A state of emergency was declared for several communities in Lake Tahoe, which opens up the lake to additional emergency funding and resources to assist our local responders. However, it is from our local community that our responders are feeling the most support. In Truckee and North Lake Tahoe, a group of businesses started a “pay-it-forward” campaign. Businesses have been saying thank you to our responders by providing free breakfast, free coffee and local discounts to responders with a badge or ID. These acts of kindness really mean the world to workers who are away from their families to keep the rest of us safe and warm. It would be wonderful if this campaign was extended to the South Shore.
For a full list of businesses participating in the pay-it-forward campaign, please visit http://www.facebook.com/truckeetahoepayitforward/.
Liz Lundholm is an environmental planner at Liberty Utilities and has been loving this winter season. Young Pros Weigh In is a regular contribution from the Tahoe Regional Young Professionals. Visit https://tahoetryp.org for more information.
