Meet Casey Hushon! Casey is a resident of North Prairie and a wife to Josh. Together, they live on a small hobby farm with a dog, a cat and some dairy cows. A Maine native, Casey is an ultra-runner, and her goal one day is to run a 100 mile trail race.
On March 18, 2020, Casey started the Facebook page ‘COVID-19 Care for Lake Country’, where Lake Country residents share and organize community resources in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Over 1,600 members have joined the page in the week since it began. We’d like to thank Casey for taking the time to talk with us about her work and life in Lake Country.
Question: What inspired you to start the COVID-19 Care for Lake Country Facebook page?
Answer: “I’ve worked at Hope Lake Country, the church that meets at Silver Lake Intermediate School, for one year. As part of my role as engagement director, I was seeing both sides of the response to COVID-19, ‘I have a need’, and, ‘I want to help’. I’m a part of some international and national online church groups and had seen similar pages being developed. Group members quickly saw the efforts were matching the need with the ability to give on these sites.”
Casey continued, “The heart of Lake Country is about serving others and finding ways to help each other, and that goes beyond our church. COVID-19 Care for Lake Country is a way we can help share this sentiment freely, and I am in awe and humbled, yet not surprised, by the response. Everyone participating is doing so in the spirit of helping each other. People have really had a heart of service.”
Q. Is there a memorable need or offer that you’ve seen on the COVID-19 Care for Lake Country Facebook page?
A. “An aunt posted a need for a specific brand of corn starch. Her nephew has medical issues and needs it in order to digest food properly. Online, the cost for this product was high, so I picked some up when I saw it at a grocery store. When I dropped it off at her home, there were several other containers of the same corn starch on her front porch.”
Q. Are there any particular needs for which you are seeing frequent requests?
A. “Yes, gloves, antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer. One small elder care facility was having trouble obtaining toilet paper. People are doing what they can to help with these reoccurring needs.”
Q. What led you to your current career?
A. “For 12 years, I worked for an advertising agency specializing in food and agriculture. My husband and I started attending Hope Lake Country four years ago, and we became quickly involved as volunteers working in communication. The opportunity arose to join the team. My inspiration and drive comes from our mission to welcome people who don’t go to church, or have had a bad experience with church. We love the community and are very welcoming. Hope gives us the opportunity to be the people we’ve been called to be.”
Q. What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A. “Find the things that you literally can’t wait to get up out of bed and do in the morning. Whether that is your career, hobbies or volunteer work. Find the things you are passionate about and do them.”
Q. Choosing anyone alive and a non-relative: with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? Where in Lake Country would you have lunch?
A. “Courtney Dauwalter, she’s one of the world’s best ultra runners. She is a very cool, normal person who loves life and being outdoors and I’ve always admired her. While she’s running, she speaks often of food she’d like to eat when she’s finished running, like nachos. I know she’d want one of those burgers at Crafty Cow, so we’d have lunch there because it is classic Wisconsin.”
Q. What is your favorite thing or something unique about Lake Country?
A. “I grew up 15 minutes from the ocean, and even though we aren’t on the ocean, the way of life, the people and the four seasons reminds me very much of my childhood.”
Q. Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
A. “Hopeful that as a church, we have our building done and that we are growing our reach and impacting people beyond Lake Country.”
Q. Even for friends or family, what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A. “My mom split my lip at church when I was child by accidentally shutting the bathroom door on my face, so I had to go to straight to the hospital from church.”
The Faces of Lake Country is a project to showcase the amazing people that live or work in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured, please click the button below