Thank-you signs pop up around Memphis
Jennifer Carstensen wanted to help find a way to support health care workers treating those affected by the coronavirus. As she talked to her friends and neighbors, she realized she wasn’t alone.
So she came up with an idea. Create yard signs that people could post to show their appreciation for the doctors, nurses and other essential workers providing help along with other services.
“I began to hear that a lot of people felt helpless and they really didn’t know what they could do from their homes,” said Carstensen, who works as a real estate agent and CEO at the Live Love Memphis Group at RE/MAX Experts. “They felt like they wanted to do something, and I felt like this is a way for those folks to be able to feel like they were doing something as simple as putting a thank-you sign in their yard.”
The signs read: “To all of those working to protect us from COVID-19, Thank You!” In just a few weeks, Carstensen said she’s distributed more than 500 free signs throughout the Memphis area.
After she found a printing company to make the signs, Carstensen posted in a Germantown Facebook group earlier
this month to see who would be interested. The word spread, and signs have been delivered to homes in Bartlett, Somerville, East Memphis and Midtown, among other areas.
“We seem to be a community that rallies around each other and really supports each other,” Carstensen said. “I just thought it was an awesome way to stick to who we are culturally as a real estate team and also offer that support.”
Residents typically send requests to Carstensen via email (info@livelovememphis.com). Once Carstensen receives a request, she sends them to her assistant April Darnell, who puts together routes for their team of four college students. The students then go deliver the signs and take pictures for a video montage that will be used later with all the signs.
Carstensen said she plans on continuing the signs as people keep asking for them. She shared a story of how one woman bought a sign to show appreciation to her husband, who is an ER doctor and sleeps outside in an RV to observe social distancing.
Those sacrifices inspire her to keep taking requests and help others find ways to support, even from afar.
“I feel that the people on the front lines right now are true warriors, whether that’s folks in the health care industry or all the essential workers that are still working to help our world run smoother and safer while we do our part social distancing,” Carstensen said.