THUNDER BAY — Frontline health-care workers Sherry Archer of Thunder Bay and Sydney King of Fort Frances are being rewarded for their part in the effort to protect their communities from COVID-19.
They are among 100 frontline workers across Canada selected by Sunwing to receive free, all-inclusive vacations for themselves and a guest.
Archer is a supplies receiver at the Pioneer Ridge long-term care home.
King is a registered nurse working full-time in labour and delivery at La Verendrye Hospital.
The pair was chosen from among 14,000 submissions across the country.
King could not immediately be reached for comment, but Archer said Monday she's grateful to Sunwing for acknowledging and recognizing frontline workers.
"It's amazing. I can't believe they'd give out 100 trips, and I'd be fortunate enough to win," she said.
She plans to take coworker Caitlyn Lesnick on the trip, as each had nominated the other for consideration.
"Sherry works so hard," Lesnick said, but then she told me "Well, I'll do it for you" too.
She added "I know she really deserves it. When everything went down, she was coming in on her days off...she's the one who's been in the middle of everything, like making sure we have proper PPE, that the residents have proper food and that everyone's very comfortable."
Lesnick is a chef at the long-term care home.
Archer said "She does a fantastic job, feeding the residents, Meals on Wheels, and Jasper Place. We really appreciate having her here."
The pair expect to travel to a resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic in 2021.
"We'll probably go next November. Neither one of us is very comfortable travelling right now, and it's not a good time to be leaving work. We hope that by November things will have calmed down, and we'll be able to enjoy ourselves," Archer said.
Samantha Taylor, Chief Marketing Officer at Sunwing, said "As a Canadian family-owned business, Sunwing has been supporting Canada's pandemic response in any way we can. Thanking our hardworking frontline heroes is an important part of this effort."
CLARIFICATION: Information provided by Sunwing for a previous version of this story incorrectly indicated that Sydney King works in Thunder Bay. This story has been updated to show that she works in Fort Frances.
