"Let there be brunch! No pants? No problem!"
Although the store and café are closed to the public, Trident Booksellers and Café, Boston, Mass., is offering its full menu of books and food--and has added a brunch for two. Available all day for delivery or curbside pickup, the brunch menu features a variety of specials, including Truckstop for Two and Tofu Scramble. Food is served in "family-style portions for two people. Just transfer them from our delivery containers to your own dishes, and voila! Brunch is served."
Trident adds: "Feeling fancy? Include OJ for two onto your order and then add your own prosecco or champagne at home for bottomless brunch mimosas! (pants optional)."
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With a subject line reading "Love in the Time of Corona" (with apologies to Gabriel García Márquez,) Third Street Books, McMinnville, Ore., thanked customers and outlined the store's services, which include curbside pickup and porch delivery. The e-mail read, in part, "Whew! What a week! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT!
"We so appreciate your patience as we make adjustments to our processes. These last two weeks have been a lesson in learning on the fly, accepting limitations and butt-busting....
"We are also scheming other ways to offer you connections to TSB. What interests you? Do you want access to more puzzles? Crazy socks? Kids workbooks? Video tours of the store? Email us with your wishes. Ideas we are developing: mystery books boxes, Oregon Battle of the Books boxes, Easter packs, Mother's Day card selections, and more!"
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As the age of social distancing dawned, Chawa Magaña, founder and co-owner of Palabras Bilingual Bookstore, Phoenix, Ariz., "saw how volunteers in Seattle rallied together in response to the city's large outbreak of COVID-19," the New Times reported, adding that Magaña decided that if it worked there, it could work in her city, too. So she set up a public group on Facebook called COVID-19 Mutual Aid Phoenix Metro.
"I wanted to create a place where people could connect to provide resources for each other during this difficult time," she said.
Parris Wallace, director of operations for the Black Phoenix Organizing Collective, reached out to Magaña because Wallace and two other volunteers had established a similar Facebook page. They decided to combine efforts and adopted the name COVID-19 Mutual Aid Group Phoenix Metro Area. More than 4,100 members joined the group in less than two weeks. The all-volunteer group prioritizes help for those who are sick, disabled, elderly, undocumented, queer, black, indigenous, people of color, and quarantined without pay. They developed and are regularly updating a COVID-19 resource sheet.
"Our goal is to connect people with resources that already exist and also to help the community help each other," Magaña said, stressing that Palabras is just one part of a much wider community effort.
In addition, she is working to keep Palabras alive. "I hope that during this time, we can all find ways to be in solidarity with each other,” she observed. "Whether it's supporting a small local shop or picking up some groceries for a neighbor in need while maintaining a healthy distance and washing and sanitizing our hands. In whatever capacity we can, we need to be there for one another, now more than ever."
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Green Apple Books in San Francisco, Calif., is selling Green Apple hoodies and T-shirts on bonfire.com. "Every purchase allows us to keep the books flowing (online, of course) and the lights on (figuratively, of course) during our shelter-in-place forced closure," the store says on the site. "Thank you, as always, for your love and support."