Local group sewing masks and picking up groceries for the elderly

A local group is running essential errands for people who shouldn’t leave home. The group is also connecting neighbors in need with people who want to help them handle various challenges the new coronavirus and stay-at-home order have introduced into their lives.

The group, called BBSP Covid-19 Community Helpers, aids people in Blaine, Birch Bay, Semiahmoo and Point Roberts. It started organizing through a Facebook page, and it now has a hotline for people not on Facebook that can be dialed 24/7.

The group’s priority is getting groceries, prescriptions and other necessities for the elderly and at-risk. As its membership has grown, it has expanded to other projects. These include sewing masks; connecting truck drivers with places they can park and get food; providing pet food; sharing mental health tips; and connecting people with financial, educational and entertainment resources.

“We’re basically neighbors helping neighbors,” said Lorelei Bowers, a Blaine resident who helped start the group. “Covid-19 has impacted people in so many different ways. The group is a platform for people to find other people to help with whatever their heart is calling them to do.”

Bowers is one of about five administrators of the group. The administrators vet drivers and grocery deliverers – they make sure drivers have a license and take other steps to collect background information on them.

Bowers said the group’s most important accomplishment is bringing people together and serving as a platform for ideas. If someone sees a need, they can come to the group and find people to help meet it.

One member joined because she wanted to do something for truck drivers – some truck stops and restaurants are closed and truckers are having a hard time finding places to park and eat. She found many others with ideas to help, and the group is now distributing care packages and delivering food to truck drivers and posting information at truck stops and gas stations to let truckers know about resources and accessible restaurants in Blaine.

“The best part is watching everybody come together and supporting each other, being part of a team and helping people get through this,” Bowers said.

The Covid-19 helpers are now trying to reach more of the people who really need help, especially older people who are not on Facebook, and it hopes the hotline will help with that.

Learn more by visiting the group’s Facebook page, facebook.com/groups/blaineareacovid19helpers, or call their hotline at 360/778-2762.