SAN ANTONIO — Crises like what we are going through right now with the coronavirus pandemic can bring out the worst in some people. But then there are those people with big hearts who are working together to help keep our community safe.
For one San Antonian, a simple gesture will help her neighbors stay protected.
"It was in my storage room and I said, 'You know what, let me post it and give it away and that way somebody could tell me how they could help the community with it,'" said Alma Johnson, referring to her personal sewing machine that's now switched hands.
The self-styled "Slingshot Queen" said she recently bough a Slingshot open-air vehicle from Alamo Cycle Plex that she rides with others to carry out charitable deeds.
"We are building a big community and we did a toy drive in December that was really great where we donated 400 toys to children and families," she said.
A few months later, she has decided to hold her own giveaway of a sewing machine to someone who would use it to make masks. She took to Facebook, where she had other social media users post how they would use the sewing machine if they won it.
"She was really just seeing who could use that sewing machine and put it to good use to make PPE or masks for the situation we are all dealing with," said Dave Sears, the general manager and owner of Alamo Cycle Plex.
When he saw her post, he knew he wanted to help more.
"On Facebook I saw her post and the response that she was getting was overwhelming with various people promising that, 'Hey, if you give it to me I'll do this, this and this, or I'll do this, this and this,'" he said. "And it was far greater than just one sewing machine could handle."
So he bought her four more to distribute.
One of the eventual winners was Tiffany Pettit, a seamstress who had just lost her grandmother.
"I always tell my kids if there was ever anything such as a past life, I must've been a servant in my past life, because I love serving," she said.
But the materials cost money, and Pettit says she's creating T-shirts to raise additional revenue for mask-making supplies.
If you'd like to help her out and be another chapter in this heartwarming story, you can contact her on Facebook.
You can contact here through email here: tmpettit7@gmail.com or you can contact here by phone at (210)277-7767.