Acts of Service for Desperate Times

By Koby Huerta

With the world in need of help and service, some bigger names and local community members are stepping up and being heroes during Covid-19.

 One woman in Washington D.C has provided more than 4,000 meals to hospital workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meals she orders from local restaurants and delivers to local hospitals.

“It has been insane,” Elena Tomkins told FOX news Host Tucker Carlson in early April.

“It started two weeks ago with one email I sent to a couple dozen people,” she said, “and we started with lunch for 30 on the first day. By the end of the week we had done 700 meals, and to date we have purchased over 4,000 meals and we are still growing.’

The charity, called “Feed the Fight,’ has a two-part benefit: It supports local restaurants affected by the mandatory shut down of non-essential businesses, and feeds medical personnel involved in caring for those affected by the COVID 19 virus.

Tomkins explained that she collects money from the community through a Venmo account then purchases meals from local restaurants to be delivered to local hospitals. “The doctors and nurses are walking into their break rooms finding some seriously good meals,” she said, “and, have been blown away, saying they feel the virtual hug from the community.’

One 12-year-old boy donated a $100 gift card he’d just received for his birthday, Tompkins told Carlson. Donations of any size are welcome.

People like my neighbor Blaire Panzer are the reason we’re getting through this together

“It’s a very difficult time for everybody right now and I try to do anything I can to help people around me,” Panzer said, “whether it’s a small act of service or something a little bigger.’ It’s really great to see the people of this community come together and help one another out. “About once every two weeks I go to the grocery store for this older couple I know and grocery shop for them because they’re too at risk to go out.’

In Renton, Washington, just outside Seattle, Candace Franks was thinking how to turn tubes of fabric into costumes for Lucias Neare’s theatrical wonders. The intended production was cancelled due to the shut down, but that didn’t stop Frank from re-purposing her time into a much-needed project.

She created a group called Crafters Against Covid 19 Seattle with the idea of reaching out to seamstresses to make much-needed face masks for medical workers in their own homes. Within 24 hours of posting her plans on Facebook, hundreds responded. “People really want to help,’ Frank said.  “My house is going to be a mask making machine’.

According to Frank, thousands of batches of those home-made masks were shipped to organizations ranging from an emergency service for the homeless, a kidney-center, an emergency operations center, to a major university medical center. About half will be used for medical professionals who are not “front line” and the rest for non-medical staff.  

“I think people want to have a sense of control over what’s going on,’ Frank said. “It gives people a sense of safety to feel like what they’re doing can contribute to such a scary situation. And, people want to thank the medical professionals who are doing all this work.’ Although homemade masks are being considered a last resort, they are not considered PPE, other cities are also asking for crafters to make them as stockpiles of the more effective masks are being used up.  In any case, the benefit of people working together to help others might be the most important reward of the homemade masks. 

 

Koby Huerta, a 21-year old student athlete for UAF’s Men’s Basketball Team, is from Covington, Washington. He’s shooting for 2021 graduation, with a major in communications and a minor in interdisciplinary studies.