Smiles, masks and 5,000% tips: 4 SLO County stories of kindness during coronavirus
Between stay-at-home orders and that magic six feet of social distance, San Luis Obispo County residents are more physically separated than perhaps ever before.
Despite the space between us, the community has still managed to come together as it unifies in the face of an invisible invader.
Some of the efforts are massive: On Facebook, groups titled HelpSLO and Help Five Cities amassed thousands of members in a matter of days, mobilizing their army of volunteers to help those at the most risk in their communities by providing food, clothing, baby supplies and even toilet paper to those who need it.
Other efforts are smaller: A family dresses up and waves to drivers on Highway 1 every day. Someone leaves a 5,000% tip at a local restaurant. A nurse sews masks for patients.
Coronavirus is in San Luis Obispo County, but its residents aren’t hiding at home, waiting for it to weave a devastating path through their community. They’re banding together in a million little ways.
In time for Easter Sunday, here are just a few of the ways San Luis Obispo County residents are making a difference — all with the appropriate six feet of distance, of course.
Nurses craft handmade masks
Stephanie Thomas of Cayucos works all day as a nurse for Wilshire Home Health, but when she comes home at night, she doesn’t stop serving the community. Instead she gets out her sewing machine, digs into the yards and yards of fabric every self-respecting home crafter has, and sews masks.
For the past few weeks, Thomas has been making brightly patterned face masks in her spare time to give to Wilshire patients and nurses.
Sometimes, Thomas is up until midnight, sewing the masks that she hopes will help make her and her coworkers’ patients feel safe in a frightening time.
“Just thinking of our patients,” Thomas told The Tribune. “I want them to be as safe as they possibly can be, because our patients are that at-risk group. I feel good that this little layer of fabric is just an extra bit of protection and makes them feel protected. It does make it seem worth it.”
Thomas isn’t alone in her sewing project: She’s mobilized her church group, fellow nurses and other volunteers to help craft the masks in their spare time. A local cleaner also offered to steam the masks for free, so that they are sterilized before use.
As of Tuesday, Thomas said they’ve sewn roughly 300 masks — and more are arriving at the donation drop-off location every day.
“I just think it’s so heartwarming to see,” she said. “I was kind of sheepish to ask for help from my church group, but within minutes of sending out an email, I had people wanting to help out. Even those who couldn’t sew, they were like, ‘Could I cut out fabric? I can be your point person for coordinating drop-offs here.’”
“It just shows our community is willing to jump in and help out with anything,” she added.
How to help: Multiple Facebook groups, like HelpSLO, Service for SLO County - COVID-19 and Masks for Our Emergency Service SLO County, among others, have been set up for volunteers who wish to make masks for impacted members of the community.
The demand for handmade masks is also increasing as the Centers for Disease Control has expanded its previous advice, now recommending everyone wear masks when they go out to places where it is difficult to maintain social distancing, like grocery stores and pharmacies.
Free mask patterns are also available online, like this one similar to that used by Thomas and the other Los Osos nurses: www.craftpassion.com/face-mask-sewing-pattern/.
Free food, supplies for community
Near the intersection of 12th Street and Saratoga Avenue in Grover Beach, a small teal cabinet sits out beside the road.
The cabinet was once home to a Little Free Library — a global booksharing movement that set up mini libraries in residential neighborhoods around the world.
But soon after the county had its first confirmed case of coronavirus and people began hoarding grocery items while others lost their jobs, it transformed into something else:
A Little Free Pantry.
Niccola Nelson, who set up the Little Free Library in front of her Grover Beach home, said she received an email in early March from the organization, noting that many of the libraries’ stewards had transitioned their libraries into pantries, filled with free goods for their communities. So she decided to try it.
“I had posted it on the Nextdoor app — I’m connected with a lot of my neighbors that way,” she told The Tribune in late March. “Within like five minutes, my phone pinged about 25 times, with people saying they were coming by to drop stuff off.“
“It was fully stocked within an hour,” Nelson said.
The premise of the little pantry is simple: “Take what you need, leave what you don’t.” People can stop by and take any of the items they need from the pantry, and if you have a surplus or things you don’t need, but others might, you can leave them.
The pantry was quickly filled with all manner of grocery items and toiletries — everything from cat food to quinoa, Nelson said laughing. In the beginning, it even had hard-to-find toilet paper and other paper goods.
Nelson’s husband, a chef, also contributed some special items like oranges, limes and avocados early on.
“It’s just nice that everybody is coming together in this time and trying to build community,” Nelson said. “That’s exactly what Little Free Library is about.”
“I’m happy I started it and happy it’s going,” she said.
How to help: Want to start your own Little Free Pantry? The Little Free Library organization is compiling a list of free sharing boxes around the globe during the coronavirus pandemic. You can set up a pantry and then submit a form here to get it registered: littlefreelibrary.org/sharing-box-map/.
Supporting local restaurants
Restaurants have been among the hardest hit by coronavirus.
With social distancing in effect and dining rooms across the county shuttered for the foreseeable future, many San Luis Obispo County restaurants are struggling right now.
Despite the difficult times, some bright spots of humanity shine through. Community members have taken to promoting #TakeoutTuesday, which encourages people to order to go from their favorite local restaurants.
Other restaurants have donated their unused food to shelters or to the families of their workers who have had their wages cut in half.
At Big Sky Cafe in San Luis Obispo, a simple tip made the owner’s day.
Greg Holt, who opened the restaurant in 1994, told The Tribune in mid-March that business was down to only about 1% of normal sales for that time of year because of coronavirus.
Yet on one of the first days the restaurant was operating to-go only, a longtime customer ordered a meal that stuck with Holt.
“I have had one customer, and I’ve been feeding her since ’94, she came down and did everything she’s supposed to do,” he said. “She left a 5,000% tip.”
Holt declined to give her name, and declined to give the exact amount of the tip, but said it’s people like that who continue to inspire him to keep working hard every day through a whirlwind time.
“There’s great people out there,” he said, noting that that tip was divided equally between all the employees working that day. “While we’re in this thing, everybody is getting minimum wage. The people working that day are going to get a fat payment.”
“When you get around to it, the generosity of the people in our area is unmistakable,” Holt said. “I don’t think we ever hear nearly enough about people that give more.”
How to help: Order from your local restaurants. Numerous Facebook groups are dedicated to sharing information on restaurants that are still open throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The Tribune has also compiled a list of restaurants offering curbside pickup or deliveries, including specials they are offering. This list is updated every Monday.
A picture is worth 1,000 smiles
It started with a spray-painted cardboard sign.
Casandra Cox said at the start of the local coronavirus outbreak, when tensions and fears were high, she wanted to do something to cheer up her husband, Scott Cox, when he got home from work.
“It started so small,” Cox said. “I walked out, and my husband was coming home and he had been a bit paranoid about what was going on and I had spray-painted ‘smile’ on a sign. It kinda trickled from there.”
Cox said she wasn’t sure where the idea to go out to Highway 1 with the sign came from, but the next day she convinced Scott to dress up in a suit while she put on her wedding dress. They went out to the road once again, which passes their Arroyo Grande home, this time with a new sign saying “We still do.”
Passing cars honked, people waved, and an idea was born.
Since then, Cox and her family, including their 5- and 3-year-old sons, have ventured out to the roadside almost every day around 4 p.m. decked out in creative costumes to spread joy to the people driving past.
One day the theme was Wizard of Oz — with Cox as Dorothy, Scott and one of their boys as Tin Men, the youngest as a lion and their family dog in a basket. The sign that day read “No place like home.”
Another day the theme was ‘80s, with the family dressing up in their totally radical best, dancing and holding a sign that said “Can’t touch this.”
The costumes are all culled from things around the Cox household, she said. They’re costumes the kids already had or improvisations of other things laying around the house (one of her favorites was the time she turned her kids’ play tube into a “slinky man” costume like the waving blow-up decoration you see in front of car dealerships and car washes).
“I’m trying to not spend money doing it,” she said. “It’s fun to have to be creative.”
Some of the photos are shared on Cox’s Instagram page, where they’ve racked up likes and comments thanking Cox and her family for being a bright spot in dark days. In person, people often stop to take photos or leave messages in the Cox mailbox thanking them for their activity.
“I’m surprised by how quickly it has turned into something so wonderful and so positive, not only for our family, but also for our community,” she said. “I think what feeds my spirit is I don’t feel like I’m not able to do anything. The lesson I’m trying to teach my kids is that you have to find ways to bring people happiness.”
The next stop for the family is to visit local convalescent homes and stand outside the windows wearing the costumes and waving to those who are unable to leave, she said.
Cox isn’t alone in her desire to bring joy to others right now. She said she’s heard from several other people who are doing similar things, wearing costumes to stores or donning bunny suits to walk around their neighborhood.
In the Village of Arroyo Grande, Kacey Collins, co-owner of the Sidewalk Cafe, spent part of Saturday in an inflatable dinosaur costume, bringing cheer to the rest of the Village.
“It’s pretty slow down here, but at least there’s plenty of smiles,” Collins’ husband and Sidewalk Cafe co-owner Brett Collins told The Tribune on Monday.
How to help: To see the Cox family in action, take a drive down Highway 1 on the Nipomo Mesa, just past JJ’s Market, around 4 p.m. and you just might spot them. Take a photo and share it and the smiles with your friends. Or if you are doing your own spin on it, let The Tribune know! Send reporter Kaytlyn Leslie an email and a pic at kleslie@thetribunenews.com and you could be highlighted in future stories.
What have you seen, SLO County?
At the start of the local outbreak in San Luis Obispo County, The Tribune sent out a questionnaire asking how residents are handling the outbreak and how their daily lives have been impacted by the coronavirus.
More than 300 people have responded to that survey to date, talking about their decision to self-quarantine, their worries about friends and families and most of all, the good they are seeing in the community in a difficult time.
These are some of the small ways your friends and neighbors are making a difference in San Luis Obispo County. Have more suggestions? Send them to The Tribune to be featured.
Stay safe out there, SLO County. We’ll get through this together.
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This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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