Mt. Lebanon Magazine – “Please let the kindness stop so that I can keep up with all of this writing!” I typed in distress to my coworker, who had just sent me three more stories of goodwill that she found on Facebook, to be included in this “Coping through COVID” series. But the kindness didn’t stop—I received stories up until the moment of my deadline, we’ve had many more since then, and I suspect the stories will continue until this pandemic is over.
And every single one of them is important.
As you can see, this is Part 2 of a multi-part series—some will appear in our print magazine, others, like this one, are here on lebomag.com, and we’ve got even more of them our social media. We invite you to, please, share your stories with us. Either below in the comments, or by sending us an email. If you’re a Mt. Lebanon resident, we want to hear about the pet you adopted, the neighbor you delivered food to, the special project you started and the unique hobby you’ve mastered during this time. Because we could all use some good news right now, no?
Sticking together
Did you know that Rosie the Riveter was born here in Pittsburgh? Westinghouse Electric hired artist J. Howard Miller to design inspiring images for its women workers in 1942. He created 42 posters total, but the famous “We Can Do It!” image survived the test of time and would later become a feminist symbol.
“She is an iconic symbol of a strong woman, and we really wanted everyone to recognize that staying home was an act of incredible strength. So we came up with ‘Stay at Home Hero!’” says Karen Krieger, Holly Lane, who worked with her husband, David Montgomery, to design inspirational stickers featuring the famous Rosie the Riveter image wearing a mask.
“We added the mask, the wine and the television remote. We hoped they would resonate with an audience and also bring a little humor to the bleakness,” says Krieger. She and Montgomery are both artists, so they wanted to do something creative to give back—beyond the masks they were already sewing and giving away. “We also wanted something that would tangibly mark this weird moment in time,” she says.
They decided to sell their stickers at 2 for $5. They spread the word via social media that they would be taking orders via PayPal, karenkmentals@gmail.com, or Venmo, kkmetals, and orders started pouring in. So far, they have raised more than $700, which they split and donated to the South Hills Interfaith Movement and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
“We’d like to double that amount,” says Krieger, “COVID-19 has hit everyone hard, but especially the food insecure. The pandemic has made their situation worse.”
