Since our project has grown over the past few months, each volunteer has dedicated themselves to our team in their own way. Even now, I am shocked at how much change each person can make. I hope this can be a platform where I express my thanks to their tremendous efforts and acknowledge how much they have been able to achieve.
Andrea Kim (right) handsewing masks for HSFL’s 2nd donation
From the creation of our project, one volunteer named Andrea K. has consistently been incredible. She has utilized her talents in art and design, creating our logo, posters, drawings, and even cartoons. It’s reminded me that each volunteer has their own talents that can be nurtured when given the opportunities to thrive.
A month into HSFL, I asked the team if someone would be willing to create some drawings on how to create our masks and how to wear the masks. Our masks have a place where a filter can be added, so it can be worn slightly differently than the typical mask. Andrea stepped up. She created two step-by-step designs. Now, we send them with our masks to hospitals so the doctors and nurses can properly use the masks. This was my first look into Andrea’s creativity.
A few months later I wanted our team to have a logo so that the hospitals and detention centers would know exactly who we were. Oftentimes, we ran out of new boxes to donate our masks so we were forced to use old Amazon boxes or even paper bags. When we dropped off our masks, we were met with confused nurses who didn’t know that our donations were in these boxes themselves. A logo would establish greater professionalism and show our hard work in a better light.
I announced to our team that if anyone was interested, they should send in their designs for the team. Andrea was the first to send in three different designs. And after waiting another week, I chose Andrea’s designs for our team. But, the process was far from over. It would be an understatement to say how much turmoil we both went through selecting between three designs for the next two weeks. After I narrowed it down to only two, I asked for a few revisions on both of them. Within two days, two initial designs became six revised designs. This process of looking at revised logos, sending them back for extra revisions, only to receive more designs was a tremendously tedious process. But in the end, we were not only able to choose a single design we were both satisfied with, but I had an insight as well. After two weeks of continuous back and forth revising, weeding out the smallest errors, and going through three colors, this experience showed me how much effort Andrea put into designing something as small as our logo. It’s amazing!
Final HSFL Logo edit, created and designed by Andrea Kim
But soon after, I was blown away once again. I had recently selected a few students to help me manage the entire team. I wanted to give Andrea the opportunity and knowing her previous work, I was excited to see how much more she could do. As our Director of Design, Andrea creates designs, drawings, and explains our project to others who might not know in a visual way. A week later, she sent me a cartoon with four panels following a girl refusing to wear a mask. It was fun, light hearted, and informative! But it was also incredible. And after another two weeks, I received another cartoon — this time on a tip on how to make the masks. Seeing her dedication is honestly really inspiring and encourages me to persevere even during demanding times.
