BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

A colorful contribution, together

By Rachel Gittleman, age 16 | August 27, 2020

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IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Rachel Gittleman, a junior at The Emery/Weiner School, teamed up with her neighbors to create and sell tie-dye masks to benefit frontline workers. Pictured are (from left) Daniel Bernstein, 4, Joey Bernstein, 8, Grace Martinez, 16, Ben Bernstein, 10, Rachel and Alexandra Gittleman, 17.

Quarantine is incredibly isolating: no family vacation, no meeting up for lunch with friends, no shopping, no big birthday celebrations. Covid-19 has made us put our lives on hold, and it is alarming not to know what will happen next in regard to school, work and our well-being.

One positive attribute of quarantine for me has been growing closer to two families in my neighborhood, the Bernstein and Martinez families. Throughout quarantine, we have kept each other entertained with movie nights outside, bike rides and learning how to make challah.

However, after watching all the Harry Potter movies twice over, we decided we wanted to do something together to give back to our community. Debbie Bernstein, mom of Ben, Joey, and Daniel, proposed creating and selling tie-dye masks. Everyone was thrilled with the ingenious idea because it allowed us to be productive and safe yet contribute meaningfully to our community. We bought a pack of masks, and individually folded, tied and dyed the masks to give them all unique designs with pigmented colors.

Once we finished the masks, we all had more ideas on how to improve our tie-dye project. I created a sign with cartoon figures wearing masks, Ben made a website to place customized orders, and we also created slips of paper with washing instructions. After a week of preparation, we went to Tanglewood Boulevard to sell our masks.

The outcome was phenomenal. Our stand where we sold masks was quarantine-friendly too; the masks were in Ziplocs, we wore masks, and all transactions could be performed through Venmo and Apple Pay. We raised close to $400, and we plan to continue selling masks in Tanglewood.

Our proceeds are going directly to frontline workers. Right now, especially in the wake of this epidemic, it's essential to recognize the selfless and heroic behavior of those putting themselves at risk to save others. By creating the tie-dye masks and selling them, my neighbors and I learned about entrepreneurship and the value of giving back to others, especially in such a dire time.

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