MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Ever since Gov. Andy Beshear starting encouraging people to light up their homes in green in honor of those we've lost to the novel coronavirus, it seems many have made sure to do so. At the same time, though, some have had a hard time finding green bulbs. That's when a Mount Sterling man decided to paint bulbs and give them out to his community.
"Just like the governor says. We'll get through this together, and this is our small little thumbprint of doing it," said Josh Coffman.
Coffman says it all started with a plan to fix up an old grill.
"As I was in the local store looking for paint to do the painting on the barbecue grill, I noticed that there was some green paint," Coffman said. "We weren't able to find any bulbs to honor those who passed away to COVID-19 and support their families, and kind of came up with the idea to paint my own light bulbs."
Then Coffman decided to give them out to his neighbors, and word quickly spread. In the last month, his family has painted and given out more than 600 green light bulbs.
"There's a little sign we have out in the yard. People know that if the sign's in the yard, then there are light bulbs available," said Coffman.
While the light bulbs are free, people started leaving donations in their place. Eventually, Coffman collected hundreds of dollars. Since he's also gotten donations of light bulbs themselves, his family decided to put the money back into the community with grocery store gift cards.
"As a funeral provider and my wife being a nurse, we're caregivers," said Coffman. "We just kind of made the decision, let's do something different with this and give it to people I'm sure that need it that are hungry."
He works with the health department and a local food bank to get the cards to families in need, continuing the cycle of giving back and supporting others.
