Laurels & lances: Changing, giving, building, caring

Laurel: To adaptability. Lots of small businesses are trying to find ways to keep the doors open while the coronavirus pandemic is changing the way people shop, dine and drink. The creativity of some entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh’s East End is an urban take on a more rural model.

Farms — or cooperatives of farm-related businesses — have found success in recent years with community supported agriculture. It’s like a subscription to a season’s worth of products. East Enders’ “Survival Kits” are building on that idea to support popular, unique businesses that aren’t able to entertain customers in the same way these days.

Want some East End Brewing beer? Commonplace Coffee? Kelly’s Bar & Lounge mac and cheese with the charred crust? Maybe you can’t go for the night, but you can get it to go. It’s the kind of outside (or maybe inside?) the box thinking that could be the difference between businesses that survive to 2021 and those that don’t.

Laurel: To the gift of life. Lower Burrell’s Katherine Maloney wanted to save her father, Steve Leach, when he needed a liver transplant. So did her cousin Josiah Leach of Titusville. Maloney was the best match, but their altruism didn’t stop there.

Josiah Leach also matched with a California man in need, George Rogers. Rogers’ nephew matched with Tim Corbin of Eighty Four, creating a six- person chain of donation capable of saving three lives.

The donations might have been liver, but the real gift was all heart.

Laurel: To home improvement. Is the pandemic desire to spruce up our living quarters about having something to do while we can’t go to bars or theater or festivals? Or is it that all this time cooped up to avoid covid-19 is making people notice what’s wrong, what’s broke or what could be better?

Either way, the result is the same. More people doing more work on more homes. And in dark economic times, that’s a bright spot.

Not only is it increasing the value of property, it also is creating a boom in the DIY business. In the past week, Hempfield supervisors paved a path for Midwestern chain Menards to take over the former Ramada by Wyndham Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center. On Thursday, Busy Beaver announced it will open a new store in the former AMC Delmont theater in Salem Township.

Businesses and jobs might be changing, but the home improvement arena may be something to build on.

Laurel: To a caring company. Some people measure a good business by pricing or accessiblity. Sheetz has been singled out for its spirit. People Magazine and Great Places to Work named the company 11th of 50 in its list of companies that care.

The Altoona-based family-owned business appeared alongside American Express, Bank of America and Target, plus Pennsylvania-based companies such as Wegmans and Comcast NBCUniversal. But it’s the only convenience store on the list. Sorry, Wawa.