Bella Vista City Guide

By Randy Rice | Bella Vista City Guide Like everyone who has lived through the pandemic, Bella Vista resident Carla Weeks felt grateful for the front line workers who were putting themselves at risk to help others. But Carla did more than just think about it, she decided to do something tangible to show her appreciation. And that put in motion a charity effort that shows no signs of slowing down. "It's not been the most encouraging of times during covid," Carla said. "Everything that was going on was really bothering me. One day I was talking to my sister about it. She is the mayor of a little town called Jasper. She was putting gi bags together for the local hospital workers in Harrison to thank them for everything they had been doing. I thought we could do something like that here in Bella Vista." e first thing she did was go to the Positively Bella Vista Facebook page to share her idea about doing something for health care workers. "I had 20 people in just a few hours ready to go," she said. "We thought up a name to call ourselves: Bella Vista Cares." From there, the group went to work setting their sights on the first health care facility they wanted to bring gi boxes to, Mercy Hospital in Rogers. Some of the volunteers contacted businesses and picked up donations. Others went door to door and asked neighbors to help. Slowly, Carla's guest room started to fill up with items to go inside the boxes for the staff at Mercy. "We tried to think about what these hospital workers would need like snacks and drinks," she said. "We also knew many would shower before they went home to their families so we included beauty and barber items, toothpaste, etc." Many people donated cash or gi cards. When Carla took the funds to Sam's, she received a donation from that business, too. Unexpectedly, people stopped her while she was shopping for items to fill the boxes and insisted on donating money themselves. "Our whole concept was that we didn't want to give to one staff member if we could give to all," Carla said. "We didn't want to just give boxes to nurses and doctors. We wanted the cleaning staff and cafeteria folks to get one too. Everybody got one." Finally, it was time to fill the boxes and take them over to Mercy. "About 40 people got together at my house and we loaded up the boxes," Carla said. "We put together 400 of them for the workers at Mercy Hospital in Rogers." e boxes were filled with everything from protein bars and bottled water to hygiene items for staff members who can't get home to shower. It took 11 vehicles to transport and deliver all the boxes. "Each box also contained a handwritten thank-you note from the volunteers," Carla added. "Plus, we designed a label for the outside of the box. I wrote a list of things we were thankful to them for and my friend, Ginny Bourke, who is a great local graphic artist, designed it." Aer Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Bella Vista Cares turned their efforts towards doing something for Northwest Medical Center. "We decided that asking for money might be easier," she said. "In the end we raised about $7,000 just from people in the community. is time we set up an assembly line at a local church." ey also wanted to thank the firefighters and the staff at Mercy in Bella Vista. "In the end we did 840 boxes filled with some really nice stuff," Carla said. "We also got coupons from local business like Dairy Queen gave us coupons for a free blizzard. It was a huge effort by all of us but it was quite rewarding. Especially when we got to take the boxes to these places and meet the folks who are on the front lines." Going forward, Bella Vista Cares is looking to do something for the local teachers in the Spring. "I think we will need to raise about $10,000 for that," Carla said. "Because, again, we want to include everybody all of the schools who are on staff, whatever their capacity." local resident showed everyone just how much "Bella Vista Cares" Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Carla Weeks (center) motions towards a van filled with boxes going to hospital employees at the entrance to Mercy Hospital. 34 | 2022 Bella vista city guide A1 Auto Service & Repair Full auto care facility 402 NE Town Center Bella Vista, AR 72714 479-876-7200 a1autoserviceandrepair@yahoo.com Foils Coloring Manicure Pedi Spa Perms Waxing Tanning Massage Family Styling Center Jennifer Osborne & Betty Blakeley 479-855-3141 1739 Forest Hills Blvd. • Bella Vista, AR 72715 www.bellavistabeautysalon.com Bella Vista Beauty Salon Inc.

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