Youths launch mask campaign

By Taylor Ann B radford Staff Writer

When a group of young Gloucester residents saw that there were members of their seaside community not taking the mandate to wear masks in public seriously, they took action.

Completely youth created, the “Just Wear It. Masks Are For Everyone” poster campaign is a Gloucesterbased initiative to promote the mandate to wear face coverings to help mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Gloucester encourages the wearing of face coverings inside essential businesses and where a 6-foot distance from others cannot be maintained.

“It is not just about your own safety,” Olivia Heasley, 17, said. “It is about the safety of others.”

“Let’s say you were young and you weren’t high risk and you don’t have much to worry about,” she explained. “If you were asymptomatic or had it on you, and you went around and touched or breathed on things without a mask, that is putting other people at risk.”

The teens — Heasley, Allie Nicastro, 15, Kira Berlin and Lexi Burby, both 16 — are members of the city’s Gloucester Youth Leadership Council, which is tasked with bringing youths’ perspective and skills to the table as the city reopens in the midst of a pandemic.

The adults in the room had been discussing ways to

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Gloucester Youth Leadership Council members, from left, Olivia Heasley, Allie Nicastro, Lexi Burby, and Kira Berlin hold “Just Wear It. Masks Are For Everyone” posters. The council has created a series of posters featuring a wide range of people of different sizes, shapes, and ethnicities, all wearing masks, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

JAIME CAMPOS/Staff photos

Mark Adrian Shoes owner Adam Farber tapes two “Just Wear It. Masks Are For Everyone” posters on the front entrance of the store.

■ Continued from Page 1 encourage the youth to wear their masks, none of which stuck.

“They had brought up the idea of a contest for a gift card for who could decorate the best-looking mask,” Heasley said. “I remember us all thinking that it wasn’t a very good idea because it didn’t sound interesting to us, so we figured that it wouldn’t sound interesting to any other youth.”

The young women got to talking and began to brainstorm ways to promote how masks are important and can be fashionable.

Heasley said part of the process of deciding on a poster campaign promoting masks as a fashionable clothing item came from her understanding that face coverings have been a part of people’s wardrobes long before the pandemic.

“Part of what made this idea come to life is how masks have been prevalent in street wear in other countries for so many years and other styles like street punk,” she said. “We are just trying to show that it won’t cramp your style and you can incorporate it into your own clothing and can be cool.”

As the artist behind the poster drawings, Nicastro made sure to find ways to draw examples of masks that would be inclusive and interesting to anyone walking down the streets and halls.

“I was trying to think of posters that I would think are interesting,” said Nicastro, explaining that she likes designing clothes and so leaned toward highlighting different styles in the design.

As these young women work hard to lead by example, fashioning their own masks during an interview with the Times, they have received backing from Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken in their initiative.

“I am so proud of our creative youth and I believe these fashion drawings will encourage young people to wear face coverings,” Romeo Theken said.

The posters have been drafted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Italian and will be accessible by PDF for businesses that want to print them for their storefronts.

For Adam Farber, the teens’ initiative has the potential of keeping his shoe store in business.

“It is critical that we all wear masks because my store would be out of business if we had to shut down again,” said the owner of Mark Adrian Shoes of 103 Main St. “If we all cooperate, all do the right thing, and with their help, we are going to promote that and it is going to be great.”

As Nicastro handed Farber a poster, he worked his way around the shelves of shoes to the window to hang it — front and center.

“The posters are amazing,” he said. “They are so cool looking.”

A banner with a similar design is scheduled to be hung up in St. Peter’s Square and the posters will be hung in all of the district’s schools.

“We are thrilled to have this fabulous campaign created in Gloucester by our extremely talented youth,” said Karin Carroll, the city’s public health director. “The campaign encourages facecoverings, especially amongst teens and young adults, which is a proven strategy for reducing the spread of COVID.”

“It makes me want to get colorful coverings to accessorize my own outfits,” she added.

Anyone interested in learning more about how to get involved with the face covering campaign and, or the Gloucester Youth Leadership Council may contact Jess Scola at jscola@gloucesterma. gov.

Gloucester students, from left, Kira Berlin, Allie Nicastro, Olivia Heasley, and Lexi Burby hold “Just Wear It. Masks Are For Everyone” posters as they walk down Main Street to hand out the posters to local businesses.

JAIME CAMPOS/Staff photo