GRANTS, N.M. — On September 30, Diamond G Home Center & Rental announced via a social media post on Facebook that they wanted to celebrate some local heroes. “As a ‘Thank You’ to our community we would like to dress these local hero[es] in Carhartt Workwear. So we are giving $250.00 each to a firefighter, police officer, medical staff, correction officer, and a teacher,” read the Sept. 30 Diamond G social media post.
The post continued by asking the community to help Diamond G with this act of giving by nominating a community member under the above categories that “goes above and beyond.” Community members were directed to mention or tag the person in the post and write a little bit about why they were nominating them. People were also encouraged to email Diamond G at diamondghomecenter@o utlook.com to provide further information and stories regarding their nominees. About four days later, on October 4, Diamond G uploaded another post asking people to nominate one more person in the community “that doesn’t wear a badge or uniform but leads by example and goes above and beyond.” Therefore, a total of six individuals from the community would be recognized.
In the same Oct. 4 social media post, Diamond G acknowledged their late boss and community member Tom Gutierrez as inspiration for their act of giving back due to the way he “always believed in giving back to his community.” Diamond G Assistant Manager and Social Media Manager Jessica Thompson, who came up with the idea of recognizing local heroes in this way, said it was also the COVID-19 pandemic and a quote she saw that fueled the idea.
“I don’t know what it was, there was just something I think with COVID happening and, you know, there was this saying, and it said, ‘The world’s short staffed, so please be kind.’ And I thought, you know, that’s a really cool thing. There’s a lot of really great people in this community who do that every day, and it doesn’t have to be that you’re saving a life, but it’s really cool that all these people during COVID were stepping up and doing really great things, and there’s a lot of really great people in our community. That’s really what it was about. It was really just to say, you know what, we just want to say we recognize you, we know there’s really great people, and so we just wanted to acknowledge that,” explained Thompson.
According to Thompson, Diamond G and the family that owns it has facilitated these kinds of projects for years. Before COVID-19, Thompson said the business used to do things like gift a deserving community member with a porch makeover, et cetera.
“I think it’s kind of the spirit of our store honestly,” Thompson shared. “We’re really fortunate to of been in this community for a really long time, over 45 years, and it started with my grandfather and my dad, and… that’s just how they lived, just giving back to people…. So, we try to give back or we try to recognize that there’s people that do right in the community.”
After the social media posts were uploaded and had time to reach the community, Thompson said the Diamond G staff had close to 80 nominations to go through. “And it was really hard because there were so many great stories,” said Thompson. “There were so many people who not just said, ‘Oh they went above and beyond,’ but gave examples and said what these people do every day. And you’re just like, ‘Wow, this is happening in our community every day?’ That’s pretty cool.” When asked what specific things and qualities the Diamond G staff were looking for when reviewing the nominations, Thompson said they were paying attention to the people who were described as being very kind to people, going out of their way to do good, and doing good without being asked. In regard to many of the nominations, as well as the final nominees chosen, Thompson shared, “That was the example that people kept giving, you know, [that] they don’t have to do this, but they’re choosing to be this kind of person… they’re kind because they’re just doing it. That’s just who they are. I think that really resonated with us, just them stepping up and helping people, not because anyone’s asking them, just because that’s the kind of person they are.”
Of nearly 80 nominees, the final six that were selected to be recognized and receive the Carhartt prize were Cibola General Hospital R.N. Camye McDowell, Grants Police Department Chief Jeff Marez, Western New Mexico Correctional Facility Correction Officer Benjamin Callaway Sr., Grants High School Educator Mark Lowther, Milan Fire Department Chief Daniel Urioste, and City of Grants community pick Mary Vanlure. Diamond G announced the local hero selections on Facebook, December 25, writing, “These folks were chosen by an overwhelming number of people that wanted to tell us all about these great heroes in our community so we wanted to celebrate all that these heroes do in and out of their jobs by gifting them each a $250.00 Carhartt clothing shopping spree. We at Diamond G wanted to say thank you to people who step up and help people. That's what it's all about!” Thompson sounded optimistic about the possibility of Diamond G continuing this act of giving back some time in the future. The Diamond G Social Media Manager said that the initiative received a positive response from the community and resonated with a lot of people who wanted to shine a light on some of the unseen heroes in the community. Thompson said she was grateful that the Diamond G family and business were fortunate enough to give back in this way, and that they wanted to say “Thank you” to the local heroes and community.