Kim Reavley is on the lookout for Nanaimo’s unsung heroes.
For the last several months, the woodworker has been handing out hearts that he crafts by hand in his workshop to those frontline workers who have been showing up every day through this pandemic — going uncelebrated.
From the flaggers keeping traffic and crews safe at construction scenes and road crashes to the garbagemen and the service workers like those at grocery stores.
“It’s just what I feel,” said Kim Reavley of West Coast Wood Creations.
Reavley says he was a faller for 30 years until he got hurt and laid on the couch for four years. He says he found his purpose, once again, working with wood.
“All of a sudden, when I started doing this . . . it woke me up,” said Reavley.
Reavley’s unexpected thanks surprised Bill Whitten, a grocery store employee, on Wednesday. Whitten sanitizes hundreds of grocery carts every day and Reavley’s kindness brought him to tears.
“That’s just hitting my heart,” said Whitten. “I’m kind of speechless right now. You do it thankfully and you don’t expect anything back.”
Reavley says he hopes his hearts will remind Nanaimo’s hardworking women and men that they too are appreciated and noticed every day.
“Sometimes you can’t see the light but it comes,” he said.
Some of the many wooden hearts created by Nanaimo’s Kim Reavley. (Skye Ryan/CHEK News)
Skye Ryan
