What began as a simple flyer of supporting letters has caught on like wildfire as the people of DTLA continue to put on their biggest act of solidarity in support of healthcare workers each night from their lofts, rooftops and balconies.
â#DTLAAPPLAUSEat8. JOIN IN! CLAP OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW STARTING AT 8 PM EVERY NIGHT OF APRIL IN SUPPORT OF OUR HEALTHCARE WORKERS & FIRST RESPONDERS.â – Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council.
Angelenos started the clapping on April 1st and it has taken off â It gives everyone hope and a way to show support from home, all together as a community.
Marcus Lovingood, Vice President of Outreach and Communications of the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council (DLANC), was inspired by the clapping and cheering in Italy and New York City to show solidarity and support for Healthcare and frontline workers.
âI took the idea to Patti Berman our President and we decided since we have a close-knit community in DTLA, we would launch the DTLAAPPLAUSEat8 campaign!â Marcus Lovingood said.
As part of a new PSA program at DLANC, they used social media to spread the word to encourage residences to clap and cheer outside their windows at 8 p.m. every night in April for all the frontline workers.
Edd Adamko, a representative of DTLAexplorer social media platform known for making a daily exploration of downtown L.A., says they began promoting the acts of neighbors by publishing videos and posts as soon as the clapping started.
âThe first night of #DTLAPPALUSE we were the only ones out on our balcony clappingâŚand each night more and more people have joined it. It is a great feeling to be part of something this special at a time when things are so depressing,â Edd Adamko said.
Motivation provided
There is a large number of healthcare centers in Downtown LA and for many citizens, it isn´t very accessible to reach out to healthcare workers in order to give them support and let them know how important their medical labor is nowadays at the same time.
âWe have received e-mails from healthcare workers who thank us for posting the videos each night. One person asked us to send him the video so he could share it with his co-workers at the hospital,â Edd Adamko said.
Feeling the necessity to make some contribution to the issues occurring outside homes just like the fight against coronavirus being carried out especially at hospitals these days is something that is in the downtown LA citizens´ thoughts.
âIf our clapping motivates just one healthcare worker then isn´t it our responsibility to keep clapping every night at 8 p.m.?â Expressed a citizen from downtown LA to Edd Adamko.
For those who have been saving human lives while risking their own in the middle of this COVID-19 crisis, #DTLAAPPLAUSEat8 has even more than just a therapeutic effect.
Nightly clapping from balconies considered as a possible option to motivate medical workers or as a way by which neighbors are able to be all united, it seems to be an available supporting act made by citizens from a safer-at-home isolated condition argued by government officials, and ensuring total obedience with their guidelines at the same time.
âWe think people look forward to 8 p.m. each night. It´s something to doâŚand maybe, just maybe, it motivates healthcare workers, but it also brings us together as neighbors,â Edd Adamko said.
Keep Clapping DTLA!
Healthcare workers risk their lives while they try to save other´s every whole day at hospitals. It must be very grateful for them to receive support in terms of applause from people that recognize the value of their daily work, providing them much more power to keep on doing their best.
Cheering, clapping and singing
The nightly clapping that Angelenos have brought lately is also accompanied by cheering and singing majorly made from balconies where citizens express a lot of happiness in terms of thankfulness to healthcare workers by applauding all together. And their not just clapping. Residents can be heard banging pots, cow bells, yelling all kinds of uncensored garb, and of course toasting – from South Park to Bunker Hill.
The time for clapping in Downtown has been socially established at 8 p.m. every night and in other cities like New York, it has been socially established at 7 p.m. every night too. In other words, this clapping citizens´ initiative has been becoming very popular recently in the United States of America.
âIt is so incredibly inspiring to see the downtown community come together to honor and support not only the healthcare workers and first responders but also grocery store workers, Uber drivers and any other essential worker putting their lives on the line to keep our city moving during self-quarantine,â Marcus Lovingood said.
Lots of citizens have expressed this nightly clapping could be considered as something therapeutic because citizens from their homes feel like they are supporting their community somehow while officials are urging most of them to stay at home and to be safe.
This clapping campaign lists all April long, but it is expected that residents continue through the entire quarantine.
