The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies).

According to the CDC, a simple cloth face coverings will slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others. 

Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure.

People listened to the CDC’s advice and kicked it up a notch. Since face masks have become commonplace, the creative types among us are putting their creative spin on masks. They are turning face masks into art projects and expressions of identity. 

Here are a few favorites:

While donning your work of art remember these few pointers:

• Face masks should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious or incapacitated.
• Masks should not be placed on a person who is unable to remove the mask without assistance.
• Surgical masks or N-95 respirators are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders.

How to Wear Cloth Face Masks

Your face covering should—

• Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
• be secured with ties or ear loops
• include multiple layers of fabric
• allow for breathing without restriction
• be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to the shape

Featured Grant

Grants of up to $10,000 to Indiana nonprofit organizations in eligible areas to address the immediate needs of local communities resulting from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) health crisis. Funding is intended to provide relief to nonprofits that are facing increased demand for services as a result of the pandemic.

One of the most important aspects in managing the global pandemic that is COVID-19, is ensuring that people can get tested for the virus. From the beginning, state department officials, governors, and health experts have stressed the importance of having enough tests as a way to manage the pandemic. The rollout for tests may not have been quick enough, but now various states and government officials are working hard to try and expand their testing capabilities to be able to match the demand for them. Medical facilities in Texas, a state with over 35,000 cases recently applied for government grants to be able to expand testing. With several counties receiving those grant funds.

Slowing The Spread: Clinics In The Fight Against COVID-19

One clinic specifically, La Esperanza clinic, has received a federal grant of more than $250,000 to help the clinic and it’s staff to expand them expand their current testing capabilities. The clinic had already received $822,080 in federal grant funding in April, to help them fight the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Here’s why this is incredibly important. La Esperanza Clinic is a federally qualified health clinic, otherwise known as a community clinic. These types of clinics actually rely partially on federal funds to begin with, which is what qualified them to receive the funds in the first place. For many people who are medically underserved, such as some of the residents of San Angelo, this kind of clinic is necessary for them to receive proper healthcare. But also, having this clinic be able to perform COVID-19 testing, means that people who live in those communities will have access to testing in the first place, which could mean containing the virus, in a way that wouldn’t be at all possible without proper testing.

Community-Care: Keeping People Safe During A Pandemic:

What La Esperanza plans to do with all of the funding they have received is actually incredibly important as well. Obviously, the more recent funds they received this month will go towards expanding their testing capabilities, but the funding they received in April is important as well because it helped La Esperanza to keep their doors open amidst a raging pandemic, and to help those who are the most vulnerable, especially at a time like this.

Last month, La Esperanza Clinic’s CEO Dean Munn said this about receiving federal grant funds:

“Our purpose is to help the underserved patients, low-income, medicare and Medicaid, private insurance, and self-pay. For the most part, we try not to turn people away for inability to pay. The grant itself is absolutely necessary, and I think everybody understands that we need to keep our doors open, we need to keep our existing staff.”

Beyond maintaining all current staff and avoiding furlough, those grant funds also went (and are still going towards) supplies that are related to COVID-19, which are sorely needed. This would include personal protective equipment like gloves, gowns, and masks.

Expanded Testing: Needed Right Now:

And now, La Esperanza clinic has been awarded $252,709, to aid in testing and expanding the range of testing related activities for COVID-19. This grant is being awarded through the Department of Health and Human Services.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas had this to say when announcing the grant funding last week: In order to most effectively combat the spread of this dangerous virus in Texas, our health centers must be equipped to test for COVID-19 efficiently,” Cornyn said in the release. “I’m thankful to the Trump Administration for further expanding access to testing in San Angelo”

Texas as a state, currently has 35,390 positive cases, with 18,440 people said to have recovered and 973 confirmed deaths. Many counties have applied for and been awarded similar funding.

Did you know that the celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans? They held festivals to honor the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele.

Mother’s Day, the beginning.

1. The earliest modern celebration of Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.”
2. American’s celebrate Mother’s Day the second Sunday in May. The holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. She helped to start the “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.
3. In May 1908, Anna Jarvis organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia. The celebration was sponsored by Philadelphia department store owner John Wanamaker.
4. By 1912 many states, towns and churches adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday
5. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
6. Mother’s day in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe originally fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church” (the main church in the vicinity of their home) for a special service.
7. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.
8. The ‘mother’ of Mother’s, Anna Jarvis, had no children.

Little Known Facts about Mother’s Day

Anna Jarvis had originally conceived of Mother’s Day as a day of personal celebration between mothers and families. Her version of the day involved wearing a white carnation as a badge, and visiting one’s mother or attending church services.

The History Channel

Jarvis initially worked with the floral industry to help raise Mother’s Day’s profile. However, by 1920 she had become disappointed with the commercialism of the holiday. She publically denounced the transformation and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards, and candies.

She openly campaigned against what she called Mother’s Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists, and even charities. She also launched several lawsuits against groups that had used the name “Mother’s Day.” She even lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar.

Mother’s Day Around the World

While versions of Mother’s Day are celebrated worldwide, traditions vary depending on the country. For example, In Thailand, Mother’s Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of queen, Sirikit.

In Ethiopia, Mother’s Day is observed in the fall. Families gather to sing songs and eat a large feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood.

Here at home, Mother’s Day continues to be celebrated by presenting mothers and other women with gifts and flowers.

Featured Grants

In honor of Mother’s day, I shall feature an entire grant category. GrantWatch has a category of grants for women. In this category, you will find grants for female entrepreneurs, seed money to individual women, college grants for women, small business grants for women, enterprise grants, and grants for minority women.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, K-12 education will be competing for fewer state dollars against other priorities like emergency health. For many schools nationwide, the recently passed federal stimulus package of about $270 per pupil will not suffice to fill the financial gap in K-12 education, leaving the teachers, students, and parents to pay the price.

As a growing number of K-12 schools are struggling to secure federal rescue funding, GrantWatch.com is doing its part to help make funding opportunities accessible to schools and other nonprofits.

According to Libby Hikind, CEO of GrantWatch:

“We aggregate government, federal, state, local, foundation, and corporation grants to help K-12 schools throughout the country access funding opportunities.

The disproportionate number of teacher layoffs across the USA has jolted us to take action and focus our daily efforts on locating grant funding opportunities for schools.”

Libby Hikind

COVID-19 Grants

In March 2020, GrantWatch added the Coronavirus COVID-19 grant category to our already robust grant search engine. We are constantly working to update this new category with available funding. We have grants listed by state, province, and territory for the United States, Canada, Israel, and Internationally.

GrantWatch has over 1000 grants listed for PreK through 12 grants! When searching, be sure to choose your state from the link in the menu bar. This will give you more targeted results.

We here are GrantWatch.com have collected over 21,000 grant opportunities for eligible nonprofits, religious organizations, schools, individuals, and small businesses throughout the US and Canada, to help them find the funding during the Coronavirus pandemic.

At GrantWatch, we deal with grant-related myths all the time. Our customer service line consistently rings with calls about what is or isn’t really in the grant world. But in the age of self-isolation, quarantine, and stay at home orders, myths about COVID-19 seem to be pretty prevalent as well. This isn’t an excellent time for conspiracy theories or widespread misinformation, and some of these are a bit ridiculous, but this list seems important to share. Make sure to listen to the proper health officials, to ensure that you have the information to keep you and your family members safe throughout this pandemic.

Here are some of the worst myths:

1. Drinking Alcohol Can Help Protect You Against COVID-19: No. No. No. This isn’t real, and it’s ridiculous, and it’s not an excuse to drink heavily during this pandemic. Drinking copious amounts of alcohol will not prevent you from transmitting or contracting COVID-19 and will likely lead to you not feeling well, do not do this. Stay away from heavy drinking and stay away from other people as we all try to slow the spread. Alcohol can also increase your risk of health problems. Though do remember that one way that restaurants can survive this pandemic is because they can deliver alcohol now, so take that as you will.
2. 5G Mobile Networks Are Spreading COVID-19: This is also not a thing. This is a conspiracy theory town central, and it doesn’t even make any sense. Mobile networks cannot spread germs; people spread germs. According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks, and IS NOT SPREAD THROUGH 5G. And just to be clear, COVID-19 is spreading in places that don’t even have 5G, so this is one of the sillier myths I’ve seen.
3. Eating Garlic Will Not Prevent You From Getting The Virus: Look, garlic has microbial properties and is generally good for you health-wise, but there is no proof that it will prevent COVID-19 and should not be used as such. Eat a well-balanced diet to help with immunity, stay at home to avoid transmission or contraction of the virus, and wear a face mask when you have to go to any place where people are. Don’t rely on garlic or any other unproven tactic; just do what the medical experts are calling for so that you help the community overall.

Less crazy myths that should still be paid attention to:

1. You Can Never Recover From COVID-19 Once You Have Been Infected: This is a terrifying thought for many people and their loved ones. But according to health experts at the WHO, this is not true. People have fully recovered from COVID-19 due to time and supportive medical care. Make sure to take care of your body and do what you can to treat symptoms, and if you have trouble with coughing, fever, or any difficulty breathing, reach out to your medical provider.
2. COVID-19 Cannot be Transmitted In Places With Hot Weather: Even in places that are hot and humid, the virus has spread. This is a myth and can be dangerous if people living in warmer, humid climates think it to be accurate and therefore ignore the guidelines. Regardless of how hot the weather is outside, make sure you are listening to medical experts on staying home, prevention guidelines, and social distancing.
3. Young People Cannot Get The Virus, Only The Elderly: This is one of the most dangerous myths of all and must be exposed. People of all ages have contracted and died from COVID-19. While older people and people with pre-existing conditions may be more susceptible, young people are not immune. Young people may be asymptomatic and still be capable of transmitting the virus.

We hope these myth busters help you in your search for information about COVID-19, and we hope that all our readers stay safe and healthy during this chaos.

Fact

GrantWatch.com has an entire category listing grants, loans, funding opportunities for nonprofits and small businesses that are affected by the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

What is The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)?

The PPP is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. It provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.

1. Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll).
2. Loan payments will be deferred for six months.
3. No collateral or personal guarantees are required.
4. Payroll costs are capped at $100,000 on an annualized basis for each employee.
5. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.
6. Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels.
7. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.
8. Funding is open until June 30, 2020 – but, you should apply as quickly as you can because there is a funding cap and lenders need time to process your loan.

Who can apply for PPP?

Small businesses with 500 or fewer employees—including nonprofits, veterans organizations, tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors— are eligible to apply for PPP. Businesses with more than 500 employees are eligible in certain industries.

When can you apply?

Small businesses and sole proprietorships started applying on April 3, 2020. They applied through SBA 7(a) lender or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating. Starting April 10, 2020, independent contractors and self-employed individuals can apply.

You can apply through any existing SBA 7(a) lender or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating. Other regulated lenders will be available to make these loans once they are approved and enrolled in the program. You should consult with your local lender as to whether it is participating in the program.

Follow this link to find out additional information on applying for the Paycheck Protection Program.