50: Kathy Lavanga
Seamstress
Kathy Lynn Lavanga has been sewing since she was seven years old. During the pandemic she has been dedicating her skills as a seamstress, as well as her time, to making her community safer. When Kathy started sewing masks at the beginning of the shutdown, she advertised on Facebook and just left them in a box on her porch for people to take as they needed. Soon after that, seeing the shortage that the area was facing, she also began sending masks to hospitals, as well as the Safe Berks shelter. Kathy didn’t just stop at masks though. She also organized a food and supply drive for the residents of Safe Berks.
Kathy has been busy helping friends and loved ones in need no matter what the situation. During the shutdown, her friend’s small chicken farm was at risk of going out of business, since the schools and restaurants they usually sold to were all closed. So Kathy enlisted her son and a friend to help her carry around a large crate of eggs and sell them to their neighbors. They did this every week for twelve weeks until things started to reopen, and the farmers could start selling their eggs at farmers markets and to restaurants again. Kathy also did all of the grocery shopping for her mother’s retirement community, since the residents were unable to leave. Sometimes it was difficult even just to find the groceries they needed because of shortages in the stores. Kathy and her family are very close to her mother. One of the moments from the pandemic that most lingers with her was dropping off groceries in a cart in front of her mother’s building and being unable to go inside to see her. She had never seen her mother cry before, but she was crying while she was just inside the building’s doors watching Kathy drive away without being able to see or speak to her.
Kathy used to run an event planning business, but she had to close since nobody was having events anymore due to the pandemic. It was devastating for her to lose the business she had been running for 16 years. She hopes that she will be able to open back up again someday. The pandemic was rough for her children too, who were both home doing virtual schooling. Her son missed his whole senior year and ended up needed therapy for depression. She is so sad that they have missed so much but is grateful that they were at least able to be together as a family to support each other. Kathy has realized how many things in life she took for granted before and how vastly and swiftly her definition of what is “terrible” has changed. She hopes that people who have suffered loss, the loss of family and loved ones or the loss of precious moments can find a way to heal from the emotional stress that lingers even after the situation if over.
