Lakewood Honors First Responders During Coronavirus Outbreak

LAKEWOOD, OH — While many Ohioans find themselves indoors, a select few are fighting the new coronavirus directly and keeping services running for the rest of us. To honor their sacrifices and courage, the city of Lakewood posted four large signs praising front line workers.

“As the leader of a 400-person enterprise, I am particularly aware of the health and safety of my team who provide for the health and safety of the 51,000 people living in this community and thousands more who work or shop here," said Mayor Meghan George in a statement.

Under George's guidance, the city's public works sign shop created the signs as a way to acknowledge Lakewood's front line workers. No new materials were purchased for the signs, a city spokesperson told Patch.

“We had all the materials in-house. It didn’t take long for our team to lay out the design for the signs, create them, and get them posted without spending any extra money,” said Public Works Director Roman Ducu. “Our guys work hard and it’s really humbling to be honored alongside Police and Fire for what we’re doing during this pandemic.”

The signs are 4 feet by 10 feet and 4 feet by 8 feet. Each carries the message, "Thank you front line workers. Police and Fire, City Service and Grocery Staff, Delivery Drivers and Healthcare Workers and Everyone Else on the Front Lines. You are our heroes."

The signs were posted at Madison Park, Lakewood Park, and Lakewood City Hall. A fourth sign will be placed at City Center. They will remain posted for the foreseeable future.

"The city of Lakewood’s fire department, police department, and public works department are battling against COVID-19 every day, in addition to the countless health care, logistics, and food service workers who live in Lakewood, to provide us some semblance of normalcy in these unprecedented times. They deserve our highest praise and gratitude. These signs are just one gesture to call attention to the sacrifices they are making for our benefit,” said George.

Here's who's working for the city during the COVID-19 outbreak:

• Lakewood fire department has a team of 72 firefighters and paramedics and 18 officers.
• Lakewood police department has a staff of 125 people, with 115 working on the front line.
• Lakewood public works has 130 employees, 77 who are working on the front line
  • 25 in refuse and recycling
  • 18 in the streets, forestry, signs and signals division
  • 17 in the parks dvision
  • 12 in the sewers division
  • 5 in the water division