Masks

• Working in any space visited by members of the public, regardless of whether anyone from the public is present at the time;

• Working in any space where food is prepared or packaged for sale or distribution to others…

One way ‘(M)asking for a friend’ supports businesses that abide by the mandate is by raising money through a PayPal Go Fund Me, and giving a portion of it weekly to a business that supports the mask mandate. They have given three businesses what they call “the Money Bomb” of $250 along with a letter that thanks the business for thinking of the public’s safety. So far Buddha Thai Kitchen in Middletown, Juicy’s Pizza in Lakeport and Middletown Creamery have received the Money Bombs. Juicy’s Pizza actually paid the Money Bomb forward to the Lakeport Senior Center.

Curtiss, who organized the PayPal fund, wrote, “Our businesses are suffering, let’s help support them. We can show them how much it means to us that they take this mandate seriously. We already have enough donated for two more. We’ll keep going, one a week, as long as possible.”

Curtiss said that when she started the ‘(M)asking for a friend’ group, “It was mainly because I needed some people around who I could talk to about how this [Covid-19} changed everyone in Lake County. The subject of masks seemed to make people really angry and we needed a way to try to get through to them without them thinking we are forcing masks upon them or being ‘mask police.’”

“We decided that we wanted to educate people without being too pushy and scare them away. We all decided that we definitely needed a list of what businesses were following the mandate and which weren’t. It was needed to keep the vulnerable people safe by knowing where they are able to safely shop.”

All members of the group contribute to the list, which includes 55 businesses, 30 of which comply with the mandate.

Tyrrell came up with the idea for the Money Bomb.

“We collected money in our group and voted on a business that we all agreed were trying their hardest,” said Curtiss, “to keep us safe by disinfecting, social distancing and both customers and employees wearing masks and gloves. We took a vote and then delivered our first Money Bomb.”

By mid June the group posted on their social media page that they had collectively raised over $1,220 and had used $500 from that total with $250 yet to be delivered.

“We’ve called some of the businesses,” Tyrrell said, “that aren’t enforcing the mandate and their responses weren’t very positive, so we decided to focus on positive businesses rather than try and change peoples’ minds that couldn’t be changed.”

The group contacted the Board of Supervisors to let them know of their plans for rewarding businesses with the Money Bombs. Not everyone was thrilled about their list, Curtiss said. “E.J. Crandall and Tina Scott are happy with it, though. They even donated to it.”

Supervisor Scott said, “I support their efforts in recognizing those who are doing the right thing and working to keep our community healthy.”

Middletown Creamery’s owners Jan and Colin Putney were surprised to receive a $250 Money Bomb from ‘(M)asking for a friend’. “It was a total pleasant surprise,” said Jan. “It felt good to get something for doing the right thing.” Colin Putney sang the praises of ‘(M)asking for a friend’ and hard-working member Dan Tyrrell, saying that, “He’s a champion of the community.”

Adamant about masking, Tyrrell believes, “People who aren’t masking are thinking of themselves. People who are masking are thinking about people they love - and that’s the difference of how we’ll stay safe and beat this virus.”

Another online service provided by the group is posting of a spreadsheet which is routinely updated and which alerts potential customers of Lake County businesses about those which are enforcing the usage of masks and those which are not. For example one business which is not enforcing masking is Howling Dog Cafe in Lakeport.

Right before the Memorial Day holiday weekend this year, the business posted on their official Facebook page that they would not be enforcing masks. “We feel that if the customer feels they need to wear a mask then they are more than welcome but we are not going to ask people to leave our establishment if they are not wearing a mask,” their post read at the time.

Another local business in South County which has been listed on the spreadsheet as not enforcing masking is Pasquinelli’s in Lower Lake, although they appear to have relaxed their stance after a meeting from county officials, posting on their official Facebook page photos of staffers wearing red white and blue bandanas covering their mouths and noses. The owners posted that they also would not refuse any service to customers that chose to come into the business without a mask.

The list can be found online at https://onedrive.live. com/ view. aspx? re sid =2 ED 3 5 D 94960 B 282!3425& it h in t=file%2cxlsx& au th key =! A NXxvubHQewelio

To contact ‘(M)asking for a Friend’ go to: https:// www.facebook.com/ groups/261548321705574/

To donate, go to: https:// www.paypal.com/pools/c/8 q7i ON eSVl?fbc lid= IwAR0fI 0eu6-QfN2wTh2h_n05MqFRiKldoGzPXstLikkzRiTpzRMKApvHO28Q