SEPTEMBER 2020 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Lending a helping hand Hopewell Helpers provide low-cost services to locals in need, no matter what the job BY SAM SCIARROTTA
Stephanie Gold and Eric Sims started Locked Down Designs to provide free masks to frontline pandemic workers, but the effort was so successful, they have turned it into a business.
Locked Down, locked in What started as an act of kindness has grown into a popular online mask business BY SAM SCIARROTTA
Like most of the world, Stephanie Gold watched the unforgiving nature of frontline employment unfold as the coronavirus pandemic raged on. Unlike most of us, though, she decided to act. The severity of the situation hit her once Hopewell Valley
schools closed. Gold, 43, has two children, a sixth-grader and a ninth-grader, in the district. She and boyfriend-turnedbusiness partner Eric Sims got to work. They started designing and making facemasks, which they then donated to essential workers. Eventually, they were successful enough to turn the endeavor into a new company: Locked Down Designs. “We wanted to keep busy and give to the frontline workers, and it snowballed from there,” she said in an email. The pair has been productive—together, they’ve made over 4,000 masks and sold over
2,000. They stock about 175 different fabrics and styles at one time. The Locked Down Designs store features 15 categories, from fantasy and tie-dye to USA and back to school. “Our focus from the beginning has been making a premium mask that not just performs great, but is also comfortable to wear, that makes a statement and that will hold up wash after wash,” Gold wrote on the shop’s website. “After all, you don’t wear the same underwear every day, so why would you wear the same face mask every day?” See LOCKED, Page 8
When the coronavirus pandemic started earlier this year, Will Titus got to work. He started small—delivering groceries to elderly or immunocompromised neighbors here and there. As things started to pick up, though, he decided that he could be doing more. So he rounded up a few of his friends and started Hopewell Helpers in early June. “I saw how providing that help was valuable to these individuals and allowed them to remain safe,” he said in an e-mail. “One day, I thought, ‘What if we could provide this service to more people?’ And so, Hopewell Helpers was born, offering much, much more than grocery delivery to a much greater number of clients.” Hopewell Helpers worked with 30 residents in its first 10 days. That number has grown to over 200 as of mid-August. Titus and his team of local students—all Central High School students or alumni— travel around the Hopewell Valley helping vulnerable residents with different tasks, mostly yard work and manual labor, though they are willing to assist with just about anything. “We’ve done tons of weeding,
we’ve dug holes, we’ve helped move things around the house and assemble things and countless other similar odd jobs,” he said. “We’ve helped with cleaning and tech support, childcare, grocery delivery, pet sitting and just about any odd job in between.” There are no set prices. Hopewell Helpers offers all services using a “pay-whatyou-want” low-cost or no-cost model, something Titus knew he wanted to do right off the bat. He needed to make sure that he could assist anyone who needed help. “It makes our services accessible and affordable to all members of our community,” Titus said. “It allows those who can pay a little more to do so and those who are able to pay less or nothing to still receive the help they need. It differentiates us from other businesses and organizations and allows us to work for a wide variety of clients.” Those clients number in the hundreds, and Titus hopes to see that number increase—he wants the Hopewell Helpers model to work year-round, not just seasonally. “It’s been a great learning experience from the entrepreneurial side of things, and it has provided myself and other Helpers with new perspectives and experiences that come from helping others out,” Titus said. And now, as the school year approaches, the organization is expanding its offerings to include tutoring. Volunteers See HELPERS, Page 7
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