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.
After over a year of having our building closed to students and customers, Bworks is pleased to be reopening our space on Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Rules we need you to follow:
PLEASE WAIT OUTSIDE in the cue along the building. PLEASE do not stand in front of our doors. When the customer currently inside is done, WE will come invite you into the building. If no one is in line please push the doorbell hard.
2 Customers at a time, unless with children.
Masks Required: No warnings, we will ask you to leave if your mask does not cover your nose and mouth.
The state of Missouri’s COVID-19 numbers continue to rise. In the absence of reliable leadership, our belief is each individual and organization must hold themselves responsible for keeping our communities safe.
It’s also important to be transparent about our policies regarding the pandemic, and try to set a positive example for others. Below is what to expect from St. Louis BWorks and what you can count on us doing for the duration of this pandemic.
Based on CDC recommendations, we continue to space our staff and few volunteers out around our well-ventilated building for those who need to be on site. We also continue to work remotely to reduce everyone’s risk of exposure to COVID-19. We have provided staff, volunteers, and customers with an ample supply of face masks and hand sanitizer while encouraging all our staff to avoid unnecessary travel, crowded indoor venues, and otherwise do everything they can to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19. We continue to require all staff and customers to wear a mask while in or outside our building and to maintain 6-feet of distance from one another as much as possible.
BWorks will continue to operate in a safe manner. This means we will continue operating with a limited capacity.
Classes: Both the Earn-A-Computer and Earn-A-Bike classes will continue online in smaller group sizes. We have slowly been increasing our number of offerings per week to try and accommodate for smaller class sizes and we will offer the Earn-A-Bike class later into the winter season than normal.
Retail: We will continue to only operate with curbside pickups and shopping by appointments or through our website. This method allows us to quickly and easily contact customers if we have a problem or concern. We are happy to bring just about anything outside to view or test.
Volunteers: We will continue to only allow a limited number of volunteers inside our building for short time periods. This is primarily for pickup and drop off of remote volunteer projects.
We are saddened to have to continue operating this way, however, we believe it’s the best course of action of moving toward a faster, safer outcome for all. We miss seeing our students smiling faces in person, catching up with our volunteers, seeing what our customers are building, or just chatting with someone about the weather who’s not in our immediate bubble. We all miss social interactions, even myself. Please take care and we look forward to the day we can interact more robustly in person again.
Did you know St. Louis is home to the largest Cranksgiving event in the country? Each year, anywhere from 700 – 1000 bicyclists participate bringing in needed food to help people in the region. And it’s also one more thing that’s being upended in 2020.While we won’t be hosting this event that hundreds have come to look forward to in the same way, we still plan on collecting donations for canned food items with your help.We’re working with bringing in businesses around the area that will be collecting specific food donations (see below for suggestions). As a bonus, some of the locations will offer special deals or raffles or giveaways to those dropping off food items. We will be posting more about each location and what they’re doing during the dates of the food drive.So far, we have the following businesses signed up to be drop off locations for the food drive between November 14 – 22
