Neighbors Helping Neighbors

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

As a magazine writer, it’s a profound challenge to write about anything these days except the Big Thing Happening That’s Affecting Everyone—COVID-19. Well, that’s what this piece is actually about. In this article, we’re going to examine how in the face of this huge global challenge, people, businesses, organizations, and schools are pulling together to support one another like never before.

Who’d ever have thought that HBO content might sneak out from behind their impenetrable HBO NOW paywall? But it did, and now we can use the app to freely watch The Sopranos, The Wire, True Blood, and a select other series, as well as documentaries and movies like my dad’s favorite, Forget Paris.

Plus, beer giant Anheuser-Busch is moving beyond offering their normal product line to make hand sanitizer. They’re working with distributors to ensure the 8-ounce bottles consisting of 80% alcohol antiseptic solution get into the hands that need them most. On the side of every somewhat-beer-can-shaped bottle is this tagline: “It’s all in our hands to make a difference.”

But it’s not just wide-reaching national companies that are trying to make a difference. We’ve got plenty of similarly awesome things happening right here in our own community.

Take, for example, the Suncoast Science Center/Faulhaber Fab Lab. As a community hub of innovation, it made perfect sense for them to step up and mobilize the community in support of healthcare workers during this unprecedented time of need. As Marketing and Communications Director Jenn Sams notes, “With laser cutters, 3D printers and other state-of-the-art equipment, plus assistance from 150+ volunteers, we have been able to expedite the production of face masks and face shields to augment a global shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).” 

For those of you who think that 3D printers were solely for making polyhedral dice to play Dungeons & Dragons, think again!

Sams adds that “we are committed to making a difference in the lives of the healthcare heroes who are fighting every day to protect our community. To date, over 5,000 face mask and shield requests have been submitted by assisted living facilities, nursing homes, healthcare non-profits and others in need. Distributions have been made to the Lung Associates of Sarasota, Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home and the Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota’s First Responders program with more on the way.” 

While the Fab Lab project was initially designed to support secondary healthcare workers, a new frontline need has since emerged. To meet that need, they’re working closely with Sarasota Memorial Hospital to develop an advanced face shield that’s specifically designed to better protect both doctors and patients. How’s that for awesome?

State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota, too, is doing their part. For one thing, they donated unused supplies from their nursing program at all three campuses to Manatee Memorial Hospital and Venice Regional Bayfront Health. That meant these facilities received thousands of masks, isolation gowns, and exam and sterile gloves. Matt Connell, Dean of Nursing and Health Professions, says, “Our faculty were eager to help local healthcare providers serve our community. And we know our students would be proud.”

What most don’t know is that SCF president Dr. Carol Probstfeld is a master sewer, and to help out, she’s been making masks, too. Her husband, Bill, cuts the fabric, and she works them into more critically needed masks. Talk about a tag team that makes a difference! To date, they’ve handmade and given out more than four dozen masks.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office staff and inmates are also making masks—nearly 100 a day. In a news release, Sheriff Rick Wells said, “We looked at the material we had in our uniform production shop and decided why not make masks for first responders and other workers on the front lines?” Most of those masks have gone to the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center, but Wells reports that he’d like to donate more masks to people working in grocery stores beyond the 100 masks they’ve already given to workers at the Palmetto Winn-Dixie and Detwiler’s Farm Market.

The Ringling, too, is helping out. Their Conservation Lab is donating N95 masks, gloves, Hazmat suits, and booties to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. They even uploaded “Art Chat with a Nurse” on April 1, where Sarasota nurse Dan Brooks talked about the Bernardo Strozzi painting “Act of Mercy: Giving Drink to the Thirsty” while also talking about what it’s like to be a healthcare professional while the coronavirus is still an issue.

But what about those who need a hand in their own lives? Well, there’s the Second Chance-Last Opportunity food pantry that recently gave away 100+ meals at their facility on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Dixie Avenue. SCLO founder April Gasco reports that once she receives enough donations to assemble complete meals, she’ll host more food giveaways.

The Manatee School District realizes that some of their students will experience food scarcity during these times, so they’ve got a Free Meals for Kids program running daily at various community sites, such as the Parrish YMCA, East Migrant Head Start, and Rubonia Community Center. Monday through Friday from 11:00am – 1:00pm at any of their community sites, any car that pulls up that has a child in it can have a Quick Grab ‘n Go lunch for that day and a breakfast for tomorrow, but a child MUST be in the car to receive it.

Yes, it’s possible to read Yahoo headlines and see where some bozo is in hot water for purposefully coughing on others “as a joke” and a group of people are being arrested for ignoring social distancing mandates by throwing a pool party. While we might have a little of that here, what I mostly see is what I’ve outlined—people helping each other simply because we’re neighbors and it’s the right thing to do, even in the face of stress and worry over the ongoing pandemic. 

Stay strong, Sarasota. And keep making us proud.