SUFFOLK, Va. - The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all kinds of small businesses in many ways, particularly medical supply stores helping those on the front lines.
A supply store in Suffolk is keeping their doors open for local heroes.
“I want to be here and be available when people need something,” Dwane Sherrick, owner of Scrubs Plus, said. “I may not be on the 'front line' front line, but I can be a part of the front line by providing for those workers.”
Lately, he has served workers from all over that are serving at the forefront.
“They were headed to New York City, volunteering to go up there,” Sherrick said of healthcare workers who came to get supplies at his store recently. “That was touching to be able to be a part of that - to provide them with something they can take and wear up there.”
He said throughout the pandemic, one challenge has been supply.
“I was getting a lot of calls for, 'Do you have paper masks? Do you have facial masks?'” Sherrick said. “I ended up getting my cousin in Ohio to make the cloth masks, and I'm on my third order from her.”
He has also made adjustments to stay open six days a week.
“I've taken some time off from my full-time work, to come in here and work the store so that we can stay open our regular hours and not have to cut back,” he said.
Sherrick said his store will be giving away scrubs and other items similar to nurses next week as part of National Nurses Week.
“They've been out there on the front line,” he said. “They're tired. They need to be recognized.”
Sherrick is keeping his commitment of staying open for local heroes.
“I'm here to serve and to bless and to help people,” Sherrick said. “That's what I want to do, and we're not going to change.”
