Keys? Check. Phone? Check. Mask? Check. 6 feet? Check. Hands? Check. That’s the motto for the new LNK is Greater Than campaign.
This six-week initiative, promoted by Archrival and the Lincoln Community Foundation, is educating local residents around the potential implications of COVID-19 in the community and inspiring individuals and businesses to take the necessary precautions to stop the spread of the virus. The LNK Community Ambassadors kickstarted the campaign Aug. 15.
The mission of the Greater Than campaign is to educate and raise awareness around the importance of mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing. By researching the virus and how to slow the spread, sharing graphics and statistics on social media and dispersing around Lincoln to talk about the movement and reward mask-wearers, the community ambassadors have been on the move and gaining some traction.
One of the 70 Community Ambassadors, Bre TenHulzen, a senior majoring in advertising and public relations, wanted to get involved with this movement as soon as possible.
“I decided to be a part of this movement because so many college students I know aren’t taking the virus seriously,” TenHulzen said. “They know that they’ll recover if they get it, but aren’t thinking about the bigger picture — Lincoln as an entire community. I want to show them that it’s not just a college town, but a place where older and younger people work and live as well. I think our age group can make a big difference by taking small precautions to keep everyone else safe.”
Along with her, the team consists of 20 College of Journalism and Mass Communications students, and five alumni from the college. Victoria Peterson, a 2017 graduate, wanted to join the team to learn from the experts in the field while making a difference.
“I was really excited to use my creative thinking and storytelling skills to help spread awareness about how we can combat Covid-19 in our community,” Peterson said.
Hard work and caution are going to be needed as the semester continues, which is why the Greater Than movement aims to show Lincoln really is greater than COVID. Learn more about the movement online.
