When Lisa Smiley heard there was a shortage of face masks in California, she decided to get to work.
"We made a lot of money by doing henna on the boardwalk and I felt like I needed to give back to that community for them supporting me so much," she said.
Smiley was forced to close her face painting and henna shop on the Santa Cruz boardwalk at the start of the coronavirus outbreak because of stay at home orders. In that moment, she knew she could use her spare time to do some good.
Carrie Hodousek/KCBS Radio
"I've always liked to sew and when we shut down, I needed something to do to keep me busy and optimistic," she said. "I started offering it to our neighbors and friends and I asked them if they knew any doctors or nurses' addresses so I can send masks to them."
Over the last nine months, Smiley has made and delivered nearly 4,000 masks, promoting the designs on her Instagram page, noting she doesn't sell the masks. They are all free gifts to people in the community.
"I've had several people that have insisted to pay, but I tell them if you really want to do something, you can donate to charity," Smiley said.
Carrie Hodousek/KCBS Radio
The future is unknown for her as as a small business owner. Her doors at SmileyOrca Facepaint & Henna have been closed since March and she hasn't received a paycheck since then, yet she continues to show resilience and compassion towards others in what is our new reality.
"We need to give to each other if we have something that we can give," she said.
If you know someone who is working to keep us safe during the COVID-19 crisis and would like to nominate them as a KCBS Radio Difference Maker, email differencemakers@kcbsradio.com.
