Talya | Beach Haven

“I guess with this whole Coronavirus scare you’re seeing people react differently. There’s the whole bulk buying and things like that, but you’ve also seen the good come out in a lot of people.

The Facebook pages, community pages are usually all about moaning, about what someone’s doing wrong in the community, but actually, lately we’re seeing a whole lot of people getting together to be able to do food packages for our elderly and for people that are self-isolated. So, it really brings out those moments in the community that I really, really like to see, rather than the normal moaning that you get on those Facebook pages.

You choose the way you react to things, and that’s what I’m trying to teach my kids. Any situation is different, and how you react is up to you, and you see how different people have reacted to it. You choose to be kind to other people. You can choose whether you’re going to snarl at someone who coughs on the bus, or you can choose to hand them a tissue. You choose your actions.

I grew up over on the Shore. So, I grew up in the Beach Haven, Birkdale area. It is very big, so it’s an awesome community to be a part of. Everybody is really tight-knit. So to me, having my family there has been a big thing for me. I really value that I’ve brought my kids up there, because it’s not just me installing those values in them. It’s everybody in the community, you know? Everybody has each other’s back, and you can go down the shop and see five to 10 different people that stop and say, hi or just a wave as they drive past. So, little things like that, you know? You feel a part of something.”