9-y-o is crusader of clean against COVID-19
Published:Thursday | March 19, 2020 | 12:26 AMDanae Hyman/Staff Reporter
The mantra of “service above self” has given nine-year-old Courtney Greaves the motivation to be an angel of compassion in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak in Jamaica.
Having realised how fatal COVID-19 is to the elderly, Courtney sought means to help stop the spread of the virus beyond advocacy.
Jamaica recorded its first novel coronavirus death yesterday – a 79-year-old man who travelled here from New York.
Birthdays are usually about receiving gifts, but for hers last Saturday, she distributed antibacterial items to persons around the Corporate Area. She handed out wipes, hand sanitiser, toilet paper, and alcohol.
STREET DUTY
Feeling like that wasn’t enough, Courtney has also decided to venture into the streets again today to hand out wipes to passers-by. Additionally, she has packaged COVID-19-fighting essentials to send to Bull Bay, St Andrew, for distribution.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared communities in Seven Miles and Eight Miles, Bull Bay, bordering St Andrew and St Thomas, a quarantine zone for 14 days.
“We must do everything to keep the elderly and children safe,” the young philanthropist told The Gleaner. “It’s not about receiving, but sharing God’s love and care across the world.”
On her birthday last year, Courtney said that she fed the homeless and gave back to a children’s home.
Basking in the joy of helping others, she is hoping to perform an act of kindness every year on her birthday.
In a video posted on social media, Courtney also requested that if a vaccine for COVID-19 is developed, the Government should issue it to infected persons for free.
Her mother, Tanya Lowden, who shared that she is extremely proud of her daughter’s benevolence, said that Courtney initially decided to hand out COVID-19 essentials because of price hikes by profiteers – putting many products beyond the reach of low-income Jamaicans.
“She always says, ‘Mommy, look! Look at the old persons and the young children. They are more vulnerable to this that is going around,” Lowden told The Gleaner.
“She always say we must do everything to keep the elderly and the children safe even though she is a child.”