friends forever olivia & kate

friends forever

four questions for sffs grads olivia ‘17 & kate ‘18, founders of olivia & kate masks

As the COVID pandemic spread across the US in early spring, SFFS grads Olivia Aguirre (SFFS ‘17) and Kate Vostrejs (SFFS ‘18) came up with an idea to get masks in the hands—and on the faces—of friends and family, while also helping important organizations in their community. Since then, Olivia & Kate has taken off, and the two can barely keep up with their list of orders.

1) What was the genesis of the idea for your mask-making nonprofit? How did you come up with the idea, and how did it grow into what it is now?

Olivia & Kate started off very simply: just us making masks during our spare time during shelter in place for our family members and people in our close communities. Olivia was the one who initially started making masks and she eventually taught Katie how to sew them. At that point we both were just sewing a few masks at a time, and then had the hopes of donating some to a couple of local organizations, such as Family House at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. We both had loads of really beautiful and useful leftover fabric from our respective family members (grandmothers, moms, etc.), and it was then that we realized that people might want to buy them! We started making more and more masks with hopes of selling them and donating the money, and so we set up our online store

and uploaded many of the masks we had made. Our moms helped get the word out amongst their friends, and people started to buy them—we were finding ourselves sewing around 30 masks per day. Then on May 25, George Floyd was killed and a civil rights movement erupted across the country, and we realized we needed to shift our focus and add to our mission. We came up with the idea for our Black Lives Matter masks and bought all the supplies/fabric we needed to make as many of them as we could... on muslin material that Christine Tantoco, a SFFS teacher, had donated to us. Honestly, our intent in the beginning was to maybe sell 40 or 50 masks to people in our close community, but we were so surprised and excited when we saw that the word was spreading... and suddenly, we were getting orders in from all over the country. We’ve sold 460 masks ($5600) and have donated over 60 (as of August)! [Some of the] organizations we have chosen to support include: Family House, Fresh Lifelines for Youth, Campaign Zero, and The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. * UPDATE: As of November 2020, Olivia & Kate have donated over $6,000 to nonprofits they support. ––––––––

2) Why did you decide to donate the proceeds from your masks, and how did you pick the organizations that you are donating your proceeds to?

Going into this, we were well aware of the privilege we both have and really wanted to use our resources to help support people in our communities. So many people are facing the most challenging time of their lives, and we hoped that our donation could help—even if it was small. The four organizations we have chosen so far support families in need during COVID due to illness, food insecurity, and the abolishment of systemic racism.

Family House came to our attention when we were searching for an organization that needed masks. This nonprofit is centered around providing physical and emotional comfort as it gives a home to families who are dealing with children who are hospitalized with life threatening illnesses at Mission Bay. (familyhouseinc.org)

Both of us have volunteered at the SF-Marin Food Bank and we have learned that this organization has supported many people in our community. Due to COVID-19, however, so many more people are facing hunger, and the SF Marin Food Bank is putting tremendous effort into fighting hunger during COVID-19 as 1,300,000 meals per week are distributed to families. As of right now, every $1 donated provides two meals for our neighbors. (sfmfoodbank.org)

Campaign Zero is a national organization whose mission has been to end police violence in America through ten policy solutions that range from ending the use of excessive force for non-violent crimes, training and education on unconscious bias, and increasing racial representation of local police to reflect the communities they protect, among others. (joincampaignzero.org)

With current events around systemic racism, Fresh Lifelines for Youth is an extraordinary organization that is working to end racial discrimination in our society. FLY work with these youth and are trying to change the school to prison pipeline through legal education, leadership programs, and mentoring. (flyprogram.org) ––––––––

3) How has founding Olivia & Kate been rewarding and/or challenging?

This project has been very rewarding because we have provided people with masks who need them to stay safe. It’s also really fun to see the orders that come in every morning and satisfying to chart the

sales! We are also learning more about important organizations in our communities because we have been able to meet with many of them and discuss their missions as well as find out what we can do to help. Our donations can help those organizations continue their great work.

This project is definitely labor intensive and educational in a number of ways. We really didn’t expect that this many people would want to buy our masks, and it’s only the two of us making them for right now. However, we have also learned a lot about running a business, designing a website, packaging and delivering the product, and needing to keep the ideas fresh so that we can keep attracting business. Our moms have definitely been supporting us through teaching us some basic business and marketing skills and we have also been able to speak with some of their friends who have special expertise in sales. We have had a lot of demand for our Black Lives Matter masks that we’re trying to keep up. But it is a good problem to have and we’re really pleased that so many people are supporting us. 4) What message would you like to send to people who are wondering what they can do to help, or who want to help but are unsure of where to start?

To start, we think it’s a disappointment that wearing a mask has been politicized, as the numbers of COVID infections rise and the hard science supports protecting others and yourself through wearing a mask. What we really want to say is: Wear a mask!

We met with a few women who work at Fresh Lifelines for Youth, and we had a great discussion on what we can personally do to help change systemic obstacles that marginalized groups face in America and overwhelmingly--they said, “VOTE!” We are not yet old enough to vote but what we can do is support and encourage eligible voters in our community to go out and elect the change we want to see in our government. Also in the age we live in, it is no longer acceptable to be uneducated about systemic racism in America when literally all the information you could possibly want to know is sitting in your pocket (or on your cell phone!). Being informed and educated is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your community. Bringing that knowledge and sharing it with people who aren’t as informed or who maybe have dated or fixed mindsets can also be impactful and important.

Regarding helping out with communities in need right now due to COVID, we recommend volunteering at a local food bank, or donating money/resources to organizations in your personal community. Bottom line, any step in the right direction is a good one, and any small act of kindness can make a bigger difference than you

“Honestly, our intent in the beginning was to maybe sell 40 or 50 masks to people in our close community, but we were so surprised and excited when we saw that the word was spreading... and suddenly, we were getting orders in from all over the country.”

might think. •

In each issue of Among Friends, we’ll catch up with a Friends alum (or two) in this column. Do you know a graduate of SFFS we should talk to? Please email Alissa at akinney-moe @sffriendsschool.org!