3/31 – A quick update on our community-driven mask-making efforts
Hi, friends!
Wow- it’s been a wild week, hasn’t it? We’ve seen more than 150 of you sign up at JunketHelps.com to help (produce and) get safety masks into the hands of area organizations (and homes) since we first put out the call on 3/22. Groups of you are now mobilizing all across the metro, and I’m hearing regular updates about triple-digit mask production in some networks – this is so exciting!
We’ve had to rely on groups self-organizing during this early stage: some of you have rallied quickly to the cause, while other groups are, by nature of their opt-in composition, struggling a bit to figure out next steps. We know this is a problem and it is one we are working to solve!
Our work during this time has been focused in these key areas:
1- Manual updates to add new participants to community networks and share tips for getting started.
2- Answering questions as they arise, connecting people with each other and with resources as needs surface, and encouraging/supporting those of you who are making it possible for others to have greater impact. THIS IS SUCH IMPORTANT WORK~ THANK YOU!!!
3- Behind the scenes work to set up automation so that new participants can be easily on-boarded and get started without human intervention (or delays). This update will be rolling out within the next 24-48 hours.
4- Stabilizing systems so that this infrastructure can support the rapid arrival of new users: once this is done, we can invite press coverage to rapidly expand this support network.
5- Identifying and establishing partnerships with other organizations to leverage existing infrastructure for areas where their expertise and capacity makes it possible for us to scale quickly and have more impact together.
We had our first media interview last night (it’ll air Friday – good, because we need the time between then and now to prepare for additional traffic).
Our project team is meeting daily to provide updates, seek input, and troubleshoot issues. We will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
We are working to provide more regular updates to project team members, as well. Thanks for your patience and flexibility as we put this structure in place.
Most of all, we look forward to seeing all that emerges from this joint effort (yay, you!!), and to celebrating these community achievements once we’ve successfully confronted/surfed/flattened this first wave of the virus (it means we’ll be well equipped for any that follow).
Onward!
Julie