Craftivists Say Thank You with Gratitude Bags

Corona’s Year of Fear has taken its psychic toll on us all, but for medical professionals, the lurking presence of coronavirus in the workplace takes a special toll. One nurse on Cottage hospital’s COVID floor said, “You pray you’re not bringing it to your own daughter or husband or whoever’s at home.” After a 12-hour shift, said Bernadette McDermott-Lewis, most of them strip in the garage before going indoors, and they put their clothing in the washing machine before heading for the shower. “We have to be terribly, terribly vigilant,” she said.

McDermott-Lewis went on to explain that it’s not just doctors and nurses but the nurse assistants, housekeepers, transporters, and dietary staff who endure the same risks. As a member of the Santa Barbara Craftivists for Change, she talked with her friends about the worries she and her colleagues had, and the Craftivists listened with an empathetic ear as they gathered during Zoom calls to sew masks, which substituted for the weekly knitting meetings they’d enjoyed at the Public Market.