One evening in March 2020, like many other times, staff and volunteers of BWorks gathered to catch up and discuss the day. This time, instead of discussing classes, goals for the week, upcoming birthdays, vacations, who has a new child or grandchild, we talked about what shutting down in person classes would look like. I don’t know if I, personally, will ever forget that evening and handing out our stock of N95 masks.
Since then, our small staff and dedicated volunteers have learned so many new things making it possible for BWorks to be able to continue to operate. These individuals have gone above and beyond what BWorks asked of them, all while wearing a mask.
Recently, some pushback has come from retail customers about wearing masks while in our building. So, we’re once again citing our rules for all to follow:
- All people are required to wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth at all times while inside our building.
- All people are required to wear a mask at all times while outside our building, while working on Bworks projects and unable to keep 6 feet of distance, that covers the nose and mouth.
- All staff and volunteers have the authority to ask any customers who refuse to wear a mask to leave our building. No need to argue or ask for a manager.
While you might be vaccinated against COVID, most of our kids are not. These are our students in programs and our own kids/grandkids etc.
We are incredibly thankful that so many of you continue to follow these basic rules.
Like everyone, we want to get back to not wearing a mask, but we won’t and can’t do this, until the spread of COVID is better managed. Please consider getting vaccinated and yes, please wear a mask.
Patrick Van Der Tuin
P.S. We also required people in our buildings to wear clothing — tops and bottoms — at all times.