At the grocery store one morning, I noticed many people were without masks. It made me wonder how many would be wearing one if it was handed to them at the door. I mean maybe some of them forgot theirs at home; maybe some didn’t have masks at all; maybe some didn’t want them. But how many would wear one if it was given to them right then and there?
I am very fortunate during this pandemic to have a good and stable job. I am still getting paid while working from home, and my job security isn’t threatened. There are many who are far less fortunate – out of work, on furlough, or working from home with severe limitations. They have a steady flow of bills and a constant shortage of cash. Some have children. Some are in chaotic and abusive households they can’t escape. Some have physical and mental illnesses on top of the constant anxiety of a lockdown and threat of a new and unfamiliar disease. Some have no choice but to continue their work with the public, face-to-face, as essential workers. It has been my very good fortune to continue with my full paycheck and benefits, and I have the added benefit of working from a quiet and peaceful home.
It seems so unnecessary for me to receive a government stimulus check on top of such favorable circumstances when others are in such great need. So I decided to use my share to buy masks to hand out to people in underserved neighborhoods and public places. It would be totally up to them if they wanted to take one. After all, some folks choose not to wear a mask, but everybody should have the opportunity to make that choice.
I posted on Facebook, offering to buy homemade masks from friends. Several responded and were willing to sell them to me inexpensively. Others shared the post and I received offers to help from as far away as Maryland. One medical supply company gave me a discount on boxes of disposable masks. I ended up with 500 masks in one day and gave them all away over the following week.
I gave some to retirement care homes and to the elderly in our community, provided several to disadvantaged, font-line workers, and handed out the rest in front of Winn-Dixie and Walmart. The joy and gratefulness of the recipients were glorious and so heartwarming! A few had been wearing the same disposable masks for weeks and felt uncomfortable knowing their masks were thin and likely ineffective. Almost everyone took one and wore it in the store. Some took extras home to family members. One woman was with her immunocompromised son, out for the first time since the lockdown, a month-and-a-half in. She had terrible trepidation about taking him out without a mask, and she had six other children at home. She was beyond thankful – she was certain I was an angel.
It feels good to give back. It feels great to know people are incredibly thankful for small gestures. And it feels fantastic to make fellow humans happy!
Mask up, and go do good, y’all!