Pro-mask, anti-mandate parents unite for blood drive
MIDLAND, Mich. — Even with the topic of mask mandates sparking outrage and drama within the Midland Public Schools district, parents are finding ways to get together on common ground.
The Midland Church of the Nazarene Community Blood Drive scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 28 is being co-sponsored by the Facebook groups Mask Up M.P.S. and Parents Against M.P.S. Mask Mandate.
Citing a critical blood shortage, parents from both groups are promoting the blood drive, hosted by Versiti.
Laura Krueger, a member of Parents Against M.P.S. Mask Mandate, told the City Paper that she has a friend who works for Versiti and learned about a critical demand for blood.
The blood drive was already scheduled for the church but didn’t have anyone signed up to donate yet,” Mrs. Krueger said. “So I got both groups to work together to help promote the blood drive.”
Mrs. Krueger reached out to Melissa Chevalier, an admin from Mask Up M.P.S., for help. Ever since both groups started promoting the event, eight people have signed up to donate as of Thursday, Sept. 23, with a goal of reaching 20 participants.
“We know that the need is high because of what’s been going on with COVID, and just people’s … lack of comfort in giving blood, but also the facilities haven’t been available,” Melissa Buczek from Parents Against M.P.S. Mask Mandate told the City Paper. “The schools host blood drives and they’ve had to cancel them. That’s what Versiti told us, that they haven’t had the option to have blood drives.”
In spite of outward animosity from both parent groups with regards to masks, which has resurfaced with the M.P.S. district’s partial mask mandate for K-6 students and the contentious Sept. 20 Board of Education meeting, Ms. Buczek told the City Paper she believes the drama isn’t as intense as it may appear.
“We know that we’re all human and we know that we all have commonality, and it’s not that hard to come together when there’s great need in the community,” Ms. Buczek said.
Marissa Anders, an admin from Mask up M.P.S., told the City Paper that a few members from both groups have reached out to have calm discussions and focus on what they have in common.
“That’s all we’ve got right now, is to really focus on what we have in common, and what our common concerns are, and that’s for our kids,” Ms. Anders said.
Ms. Anders’ husband, Chad, added that “we’re in territory that none of us imagined ourselves being in,” and that every parent wants what’s best for their children and their futures.
“Instead of talking only about the things that we don’t have in common, recognizing that there’s a passion for all kids – not just our kids, but for the community as a whole – … there had to be ways to focus everybody’s energy on the common good,” Mr. Anders said. “We can agree to disagree on a lot of things, but talking about the ways that we disagree wasn’t being very fruitful.”
Mr. Anders was one of the parents in favor of masks who spoke during public comment at the Sept. 20 meeting. He told the City Paper that he spoke with Jacob Lewis, co-founder of Parents Against M.P.S. Mask Mandate, after the meeting.
“I went right to Jacob outside and said, ‘Hey man, I thought you guys had some pretty fair point in there; I don’t agree with all of it, but I certainly feel like there’s some things that I didn’t realize how mutually we understood things to be. Maybe we can talk more about that in the future. Maybe we can find ways that we can take this energy instead of funneling it into being divided,'” Mr. Anders said, adding that Mr. Lewis was receptive.
Parents have passed out flyers to help promote the event and raise awareness. Ms. Buczek told the City Paper she was going to drop off flyers at her children’s school, and is also considering leaving some at the administration building.
The two mask groups are finding other ways to come together and give back to the Midland community, including trash pickup at Virginia Park. During the Sept. 20 Board of Education meeting, a woman in the audience stood up and interrupted the meeting to complain about littering in the park.
“There’s definitely places in the community that we can all put our frustration and our angst over the last two years of pandemic into some good, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing – especially if we can keep it focused on our root cause of still limiting the spread and exposure of Covid in the community,” Ms. Anders told the City Paper. “Our group is focused on keeping all events safe as they can be, and hopefully outdoor events and distanced events.”
Mr. Anders agreed, adding that the hardest part of organizing volunteer events is finding enough volunteers to do it.
“It’s not that there isn’t a need, it’s not that there isn’t a desire, it’s that usually it’s the same couple of people doing things over and over, and people get burned out,” Mr. Anders said.
The Sept. 28 blood drive will take place at 5700 Jefferson Avenue from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Appointments can be made by calling 866-642-5663 or visiting versiti.org. Walk-ins are also welcomed.
Masks are required for all blood donors. Mrs. Buczek clarified to the City Paper that this requirement was put in place by Versiti, and not by either of the Facebook mask groups.
Michael Piwowarski covers education, including higher ed and Midland Public Schools, for the City Paper.