Standing in line outside Deluxe Foods waiting for her turn to shop, Jehna Caron noticed nearly all the shoppers wore masks. When she got to the checker station, she noticed the cashier was not wearing a mask. She inquired.
Employees at Deluxe Foods thank Jehna Caron for making them masks.
The cashier’s face crumpled into “a look of resigned dread.”
So Caron said, “I’ll make you one” — which put a smile on the cashier’s face.
Next Caron wondered how many of her co-workers needed masks. Fifteen, she was told.
“They’re risking themselves,” she said. “You’re constantly exposed and you don’t have protection.”
Jehna Caron, the mask crusader of Aptos.
She agreed to make them all, and decided she should do 18 just in case, so no one would be left out.
Masks, or face coverings, were recommended April 3 by the federal Centers for Disease Control for people going out to grocery stores and pharmacies to slow the spread of the contagious coronavirus COVID-19, which has proven fatal for people with heart disease, asthma or diabetes.
The Domo.com COVID-19 tracker reports 28,000 deaths in the U.S. including 864 in California.
Officials said a face covering can keep people who have the virus but no symptoms from spreading it to others.
As of April 14, Santa Cruz County reported 96 confirmed cases, 17 hospitalized, two deaths, and 2,460 negative test results.
The state database reported eight hospitalized in Santa Cruz County, four confirmed and four suspected cases, with three people in the intensive care unit, down from nine earlier in the week.
SC Mask Sewers
After Caron volunteered to make masks, she searched on Facebook and found SC Mask Sewers, a group started by Penny Cotter, who helped her mom, Sharon Ciraulo, when she owned the Felton Fabric Store.
Penny Cotter is co-founder of the SC Mask Sewers group on Facebook, which responds to requests for face coverings across Santa Cruz County. • Photo by Jondi Gumz
Cotter, a childcare provider, hasn’t been working because that business was deemed non-essential in the health officer’s order to shelter in place.
She has a friend who works at a hospital, and personal protection equipment has been in short supply. She volunteered for a Facebook group called Project Mask, sending masks to whoever needed them.
The group got so big and on March 28, Cotter decided to start a group just for Santa Cruz, which has grown to 256 members who help however they can.
Co-founders are Lisa Locatelli, who lives on the Santa Cruz Westside, and Joann Hughes, who retired after teaching home economics for many years at Harbor High School.
Dominican Oaks, the assisted living facility for the elderly, asked for 200. So did the Metro bus service.
Salud Para La Gente, the nonprofit healthcare clinic, asked for 100. Womencare, the nonprofit that supports women with cancer, asked for 50 – and then 50 more.
At 9:18 p.m. April 12, there were 231 requests. By 11:46 p.m. April 14, it was 460.
Requests are often handled geographically. Betty Lopez is the point person in Capitola along with Sharon Ciraulo; Christina Amaya and Kristie Shulman are busy in Scotts Valley.
Some people don’t sew but they have donated fabric, like the box full of colorful pieces on Cotter’s porch. Others take care of deliveries.
Community
Ordinarily, Caron would be at Cabrillo College taking metalsmithing classes or volunteering at the tool library. But the campus shifted from in-person to online classes to avoid spreading COVID-19, and Caron had time on her hands.
She enlisted her neighbor, Chrissy Cyr, who wanted to help.
“I made her my iron-er and tie cutter,” said Caron. “She’s great! She saves me a lot of time, so I can make more masks.”
On the Facebook group, volunteers ask for help; “What am I doing wrong? This doesn’t pleat right,” and advice; “Can these be used for a nose bridge? Twist ties from the grocery store.” And they get plenty of answers.
Sometimes they share bits of humor, advice from the 1949 Singer sewing manual — “never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade,” and a photo of a cat at a sewing machine.
“Everyone connects,” said Caron. “There such a sense of community on that page.”
She’s been going to eBay to buy supplies that she doesn’t have, such as yards of ribbon for ties and to attach the nose bridge. One seller, seeing her plan to make masks for support staff in the Sheriff’s Office, gave her a deal on the price and free shipping.
“These kinds of acts give me such hope,” Caron said.
Story By Jondi Gumz