A large portion of the AIDS Memorial quilt is getting a new permanent home in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and the display was supposed to be unveiled this week.
That event was postponed due to the ongoing shelter in place order in San Francisco, but the coronavirus pandemic has given volunteers with the AIDS Memorial Quilt a new, temporary focus: using their skills to sew masks for Bay Area Community Services, which provides services to the homeless and people suffering from addiction. BACS is still open and providing essential services to the community.
Volunteers have already sewn over 400 fabric coverings, which have room to insert a surgical or N95 mask, creating a fabric cover that may extend the life of the masks.
The group says overcoming the pandemic will require a similar collective action and respect for science and public health that was necessary in fighting the AIDS crisis.
“I think for a lot of us it has brought up old wounds,” says co-founder Mike Smith. “There’s that sense of isolation, there’s a sense of frustration in not knowing what to do to help. And of course the death and the dying and losing people, it feels a lot like the early days of AIDS.”
“Sewing is how I chose to memorialize my friends I’ve lost to AIDS,” said Gert McMullin, who has been sewing as a volunteer and staff member of the Quilt since 1987. “I just can’t sit idly by during this new crisis. Sewing masks for BACS helps me have hope, and I know they need them and it will make a difference.”