The coronavirus pandemic, protests over the police killing of George Floyd, the Blue Ridge fire, lockdowns, and the closing of schools rocked the Chino Valley and the rest of the nation during this extraordinary year.
The devastation was matched by the goodness of residents who helped school children cope with social isolation, collected food and items for those hit hardest by the pandemic, and rallied around frontline healthcare workers.
Barely had the year begun when the coronavirus pandemic originating in Wuhan, China spread across the globe resulting in 334,000 deaths in the United States by the end of the year.
There were 11 deaths in Chino Hills and 70 in Chino, with 26 of those at the California Institution for Men in Chino and one at the California Institution for Women.
4 Min Read
Published on: 12-28-2020
Near the end of 2019, Michelle Arrigo was completing her final rounds of chemotherapy at Loma Linda University Health – Beaumont – Banning in California, United States. The year before, she was suspecting pancreatic cancer before even receiving the diagnosis. Now without signs of cancer, Arrigo said she’s found a new calling reaching out to patients battling cancer and offering emotional and mental support.
“I really believe that my goal now in life is to reach out to people who have cancer, whether pancreatic or not, to help them through this journey,” Arrigo said. During her treatment, she often observed patients going into the clinic alone, many of them appearing sad and scared. “I just want to ease the way and be someone they can talk to when they get scared, or even when they’re not scared.”