Mask Up: Support a Local Brand That's Supporting Healthcare Workers

Photo: Millie Lottie

American manufacturing made a dramatic shift during World War II to support the war effort; similarly, global manufacturing is shifting now to fight Covid-19. Fashion, in particular, was among the first sectors to pivot for our current crisis, with designers tasking seamstresses to make personal protective equipment (PPE), and perfumers repurposing their production facilities to make hand sanitizer. And it’s not just marquis names and conglomerates doing their part: local makers are pitching in, too.

If you follow Millie Lottie founder Jan Hammock on Instagram, you’ve seen the driving force behind the luxe picnic tote has been producing washable masks for local healthcare workers. Hammock started a GoFundMe page to pay her contract seamstress, who is a more efficient sewer, to make masks as well. A $4 donation covers labor and supplies for one donated mask.

Photo: Millie Lottie

Hammock is also selling masks to the public on her website. Millie Lottie has a “stylish” denim mask ($15) with elastic ear straps and a surprise print lining. (There’s also hospital-style mask with ties, but she is only producing those as donations for health care workers.)

While you still shouldn’t be hoarding the disposable masks that healthcare workers desperately need to perform their jobs safely, wearing a mask outside your home is worth considering—with a bit of context. Yesterday, The New York Times reported that the CDC is weighing a recommendation that everyone start wearing masks. The hesitation, however, is that greedy people will stock up, and keep medical personnel from getting the PPE they need.

Hammock’s Millie Lottie option is a happy medium. Non-medical personnel can purchase a washable, reusable mask, which—while not N95—is better than nothing. (Keep in mind: even nurses are being told to use bandanas when they run out of masks.) This purchase supports a local business owner, who’s supporting another local contractor and healthcare workers at the same tie. Plus, the masks are cute.

If you do have a stockpile of N95s or other hospital masks that you’ve been hesitant to part with, consider buying yourself a Millie Lottie mask and donating your PPE stash to healthcare workers on the frontline. If you live in San Francisco, sfcovid19donations.com is organizing collection sites through the city for unused PPE. Kaiser Permanente can also help with coordinating your donations at the dedicated email KPCOVID-19Donations@kp.org.

We’re all in this together, so do you what you can, when you can. And please, stay home and stay healthy.