In times of tragedy and hardship, first responders risk their lives and safety to help their communities pull through.
A local Facebook group Thank a First Responder decided it was time to say thank you and began making baskets for first responders throughout northern Colorado.
Jenny Gorsage, founder of Thank a First Responder, is married to Adams County Deputy Chad Gorsage. They live in a neighborhood with several other first responders. After feeling and understanding the hard times first responders were facing in light of the coronavirus pandemic and recent protests, the couple decided to make baskets to show their support.
After receiving a basket, a neighbor and local firefighter asked Gorsage for more to share with others at his station. “News got out. We decided to make a group and it turned out to be pretty darn big,” Jenny Gorsage said.
Each basket is individually assembled by Jenny Gorsage. She uses donated items when she can, such as gift certificates, bottles of whiskey from local distilleries, snacks left by group members or anything else that comes along. When she runs out of donated items she purchases gift cards from local businesses to stuff in baskets. The baskets are themed, and so far have kept mostly to whiskey, beer, coffee and energy.
In each basket Gorsage also contributes a glass or mug with a first responder logo she prints on a vinyl cutting machine and personally places on each piece.
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While Gorsage assembles the baskets she relies on the 1,700 members of her Facebook group to nominate and help deliver the baskets across northern Colorado. Next month Gorsage will deliver 50 baskets to first responders in Canon City who were nominated by a deputy in Freemont County.
Jeana Quintana Carnes, the wife of Longmont Master Police Officer Jerry Carnes and St. Vrain Valley School District school counselor, found the Thank a First Responder Facebook page. She learned members of the group can nominate police officers, firefighters, dispatch officers and health care professionals to receive a basket of goodies as thanks for their hard work.
Quintana Carnes seized an opportunity to nominate her husband for a basket. As a school counselor, she works closely with families in need.
“I’m a counselor here in the district and my husband helps me out with a lot of extras that I feel like he doesn’t necessarily need to do during his off time by helping the community and the kids that I work with,” she said.
Examples of Jerry Carnes going above and beyond to be a part of helping his wife include delivering a washer and dryer for a family, delivering food, making a home visit on a weekend and even playing basketball with a group of local youth, Quintana Carnes said.
“I think it helps build the relationship of police officers and the community,” Quintana Carnes said.
On Aug. 5, Carnes was awarded a basket full of energy products — a Red Bull, protein bars, a water bottle and more — at the Longmont Public Safety Justice Center.
“I think it might already be gone. He didn’t bring me anything home that day so it must have been all goodies he liked,” Quintana Carnes joked last week.
Carnes is one of 10 Longmont first responders who so far have received a basket from the Thank a First Responder group.
The Thank a First Responder Facebook group is a closed group so new members need permission to join. The group is always looking for fun stuff to add to baskets and has an Amazon wishlist and a Venmo account, @jenny-gorsage-1, for anyone wishing to contribute. Businesses who wish to contribute to baskets can contact her at [email protected].
