Good Night Lights nominated for recognition from Reader’s Digest

PROVIDENCE – A goodnight gesture that turned into a beloved Providence tradition is now a contender for national recognition.

Good Night Lights is one of Reader’s Digest and Life Extension’s 10 Community Health Hero finalists and is a contender for designation as one of three Community Health Heroes.

Winners will be announced in the November issue of Reader’s Digest and be highlighted on the Community Health Heroes website.

The platform is a sister program to Reader’s Digest’s “Nicest Places in America” program.

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Initially nominated for the 2019 “Nicest Places in America,” Good Night Lights was later selected as a Community Health Heroes finalist.

The nighttime tradition took flight after a cartoonist who worked at Hasbro Children’s Hospital began to bid young patients goodnight by flashing his bike light toward hospital windows in the early evening.

“This has grown into businesses all over the city flashing their lights at the hospital to say goodnight – especially those with marquee signs. One of them has an LED sign that blinks ‘Goodnight,’ ” reads the nomination for Good Night Lights. “On certain nights we have the police and fire departments blinking their vehicle lights at the windows, and during the citywide event we had about 200 people blinking flashlights along the waterfront.”