- November 1, 2024
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Get-well cards were made by locals for the injured Waste Pro worker. Courtesy photo
Coworkers of the injured Waste Pro employee pose with a get-well card they picked up for him. Courtesy photo
Get-well cards were made by locals for the injured Waste Pro worker. Courtesy photo
Get-well cards were made by locals for the injured Waste Pro worker. Courtesy photo
Get-well cards were made by locals for the injured Waste Pro worker. Courtesy photo
Get-well cards were made by locals for the injured Waste Pro worker. Courtesy photo
The garbage and recycling collection in the B-section looked a little different on Friday, Sept. 28. Colorful cards with well-wishes written on the envelopes were taped to many of the bins for Waste Pro workers to collect and pass on to their coworker, a recycling truck driver whose leg was run over by a recycling truck around noon on Tuesday, Sept. 25, on Bickwick Lane in Palm Coast.
After news of the incident made its way onto neighborhood Facebook groups, the B-section rallied together to make get-well cards for the injured employee. Julianna Stageberg, who created the card initiative, only moved to the B-section two months ago from St. Augustine.
“Nowadays, everything’s at the click of a button to send prayers or well-wishes, and I don’t know, maybe it’s the old fashioned in me, but I feel like it’s so much more meaningful in a card form,” she said. “I didn’t think it would go anywhere, but people really ran with it, so that’s who I have to thank really, is everyone who rallied around the whole idea.”
She said she posted in different Facebook groups to encourage her neighbors to write notes of encouragement for the WastePro worker, and at least 50 people said they would write cards and tape them to their garbage bins for Friday pickup.
“I was lucky enough to actually meet and see the haulers come by today,” Stageberg said Friday afternoon. "There were three gentlemen taking out the trash, and they said they’ve gotten so many cards already. And they really took the effort to carefully take each card and collect it and put it in the truck. And they said it’s personally going to go to him, so I was quite moved.”
She added that the workers had collected at least 30 cards by 11 a.m. Friday when she spoke with them.
“I moved here looking for a sense of community. It was really important to find that perfect town, in purchasing a house,” Stageberg said. “At five cards, I was pretty much moved to tears. When they started pouring in last night, I’ll admit, I did shed a tear because you think about it, this could be someone’s husband, someone’s son. It’s touching because I know if this was my husband, or myself, I know my neighborhood would stand behind us, which is very moving.”
City of Palm Coast Communications and Marketing Manager Cindi Lane said that the injured driver is new and was not driving the truck at the same time of the incident. A different worker was driving, as they switch off driving during training.
Lane also shared a quote from Waste Pro Division Manager Shea Drury, who spoke about the injured worker: “He has been so positive and strong through the whole thing. Palm Coast residents have made it a lot easier on him, as he has received tons of cards from residents — even people that are not on his route have reached out to him or Waste Pro to send prayers for him. It is truly amazing to see this community come together. Waste Pro cares about our communities, and it’s an awesome feeling when the community cares for us as well.”
