Online cloth mask marketplace connecting buyers, sellers in SB County
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The Santa Barbara County Mask Network is giving locals an online home to buy and sell masks and face coverings.
The website, part of a community effort with several volunteers, features information about mask and face covering safety, as well as a marketplace for sellers to post their products.
The goal is to keep the community protected and help some sellers survive the tough economic climate.
"So we're just offering sort of a free 'dating service,' if you will, between sellers and buyers," co-founder Lee Heller said. "We're not warranting the quality, and we are really encouraging sellers to tell their customers about which designs they are using, if they're CDC-approved, what kind of materials they're using."
The website is also trying to educate buyers "about what the best practices are for cloth face coverings, so they can ask informed questions," Heller said. Steps to make homemade masks are also on the website.
Heller says she also wants to highlight community groups--such as the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade, Masks on a Mission, Sunrise Rotary of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria's 'Neighbor to Neighbor' group--that together produce thousands of masks each week.
“I think a lot of us want to help these organizations to do this work, because it’s gonna make our community safer,” she said.
Last week, the city of Santa Barbara began requiring all customers and employees in most essential businesses to wear face coverings. Other local communities could adopt similar rules.
The Santa Barbara County Mask Network is looking for financial donations as well as additional mask sellers. It is sending those interested in volunteering, whether they can sew or not, to the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade.
