The novel coronavirus has been raining on many parades but community builder, Leanne Doppler won't let it get those March and April babies.
During this ever changing time, Doppler has taken it upon herself to spread a little bit of happiness throughout the community. Doppler is going door-to-door with a few friends and singing Happy Birthday to all of those who are having to postpone their special day.
"I got thinking about little kids that have birthdays and sadly are going to have to cancel their birthday party and we can't really do much for them but there's myself and my neighbour and we've come together with our husbands and we will go to the house, ring the doorbell and then we all stand on the sidewalk, six feet apart from one another, and when they answer the door we sing Happy Birthday," explains Doppler.
Under the Facebook group "Heartland Life" those interested in having the singing ensemble serenade them or a loved one can send their information.
"If they don't want to put it out on Facebook, they can just personal message me their name, the child's name, how old they're turning and what their address is and then our three families set up a time," said Doppler.
Doppler added they are centring times around noon close to one another so that they can smoothly transition from one house to the next and avoid the break in time. They are also making sure they are practicing their social distancing.
"It was actually quite funny, our friends, Sue and Dan who are the co-conspirators in this, they both showed up with metre sticks," chuckled Doppler. "Our other neighbour and her two little girls, they were really good with policing us like 'You're too close, back up' it was quite adorable."
Currently this initiative is only taking place in the community of Heartland with the hope being other communities might jump on board. Doppler says anyone interested in starting this elsewhere in Cochrane can contact her via her Facebook and she can act as a mentor. As for the Heartland community, Doppler says others have since come forward to be part of it which she says granted the permission of the family she will mention a meeting point on the Facebook Group page and those who want to join in on the fun can do so.
"I'm not giving the family name or the address or anything like that," explains Doppler.
The all around good cause gets Doppler out of the house while visiting her neighbours, and making someone's day and although it seems the gloom and doom of negative news keeps coming down the pipe, the small things we do as a community can allow us to find some positivity in all of this.
"You get when you give. It benefits me just as much as it does others," said Doppler.
"There's so much scary going on and especially for little kids and I also had two little kids of my own and I know how important a birthday is and it just breaks my heart that these little kids are being robbed of the fun birthday experience. If this is just one little thing that we can do to give them a little spark on their birthday, then I am happy to do it."
And while everyone might be itching to find the next time killer to do with their kids while hiding at home, Doppler has one more for all the families out there. She has started a window community scavenger hunt. Children with a little help from their parents will draw the appropriate symbol for the corresponding day and showcase them in their windows. When families are out walking on Wednesday, Friday or Sunday's they aimlessly search for as many as they can find.
"It's nice because it's a double whammy," said Doppler. "It's an activity that they can do during the day, and then on the day that they're displayed it's also an exciting thing that when you're out on your walk with you family, you go around and you count the rainbows or count the shamrocks and count the houses."
Doppler says in this uncertain time it's all about coming together. She credits the community of Heartland for demonstrating just as their name mentions.
"This neighbourhood of Heartland, I've never experienced anything like it before. They are just so there for one another it blows me away," said Doppler. "The heart in Heartland is very aptly named."
