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Since the pandemic hit her area, Nurse of the Week Sanya Davis has been employed at a COVID-19 drive-through testing site in Marion, Ohio. Testing people for the virus can be stressful, but she has found a rewarding pursuit during her off-time. In March, Davis decided it was a good time to bring a bit of “sunshine” into peoples’ lives. For six months now, she has been delivering special, personally-assembled—and predominantly yellow-hued—gift baskets to essential workers and people in her community who “may be having a bad day and just need some cheering up.”

Davis’ Sunshine Baskets ready for delivery

How does she deliver “sunshine?” The predominant color of most of the gift baskets is a cheerful yellow. Davis reasons that “Yellow is more of a sunshine, so it brightens somebody’s day.”  It started as a personal project, but the delighted responses to her gift baskets inspired Davis to form a Facebook group, “You’ve Been Sunshined ,” for suggesting nominees and showcasing the baskets, and she now has an additional group, “Sunshine Helpers,” for family, co-workers, and other volunteer helpers.

Sunshine baskets have been delivered to local firefighters, a little girl who had just been diagnosed with diabetes, and a neighbor who had lost all of her teeth. Anyone who could use a little extra light in their life is a candidate. The project itelf adds light to Davis’ life, and is a logical extension of her mission as a nurse: “Everybody that helps me gets so much out of it, and it makes my heart so happy,” she says.

Upcoming Sunshine recipients include the Marion police department and the local post office. Davis doesn’t hesitate when asked about her motivation: “I feel like God has put this in my heart to do this, to help others. I’m a nurse, so I’m geared to wanting to help others. I think we hear more negativity than positivity in this town, so I figured this would be a good way to bring sunshine to everyone.”

See also
New Dual Admission Partnership Between UMSON and CCBC

See the Marion Star for the full story on Sanya Davis.

Koren Thomas
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