My COVID 19 efforts

Once the Kansas City metro area (both sides of the state line!) issued the stay at home order and also ordered non-essential businesses to shutter, I realized that this pandemic was going to crush most small businesses. As with the staffing model change at work, I can’t save everyone but knew I could do something to help.

First up, our cat sitter. She does an amazing job, this is her only source of income and we have been so glad to have her take care of our sometime obnoxious cats. The first week of the stay at home order, we sent her $100 via her normal payment route. Last week, she sent out a fund-raising campaign with t shirts, so we’ve ordered two. While neither of those amounts will replace her lost income, I hope it helps some.

Easter dinner

Next the restaurant where we had my incredible surprise 60th birthday dinner—Affäre. Like many restaurants in the area, they immediately shifted to curbside pick-up for a set menu. We’ve gotten dinner there twice, and then ordered our Easter meal shown from them too (shown in this photo). We can’t order from them every week, it’s not cheap so not really in our budget, but I know it’s helped and they’ve been clear with all their customers how moved they are by the support.

Masks in progress last week

Finally, fabric masks. I joked around a couple of years ago with a friend who is somewhat of an end-time prepper—she’d said that people with skills would be welcome at their “compound” when the apocalypse comes. I told her then that Kent and I both sew and she was lukewarm about whether that skill counted as essential during those end times. Joke’s on her, it definitely counts.

We’ve already made and distributed about 40 fabric masks and I’ve got another 22 cut and partially assembled. No, these aren’t the same quality as the N-95 masks but I’ve made them with fabric that has a very high thread count and they’re lined. Most have ties, the child masks have elastic so they stay on. As I told someone  who tried to thank me for making her family masks—hey, I can do this bit of good, so I am.