Mr. Rogers and Peggy Engard

Mister Roger’s said “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

During this nightmare pandemic, there have been so many helpers: doctors, nurses, aids, paramedics, firemen, police, teachers and more. We sometimes forget the clerks, garbage collectors, drivers, mailmen, cleaners, restaurant workers, truckers, cab drivers, delivery people, and yes, funeral workers. There are so many more that do huge jobs and smaller jobs, all important to our daily lives. People we took for granted so often, but are of unbelievable importance to us now.

And then there are helpers like Peggy Engard. Peggy started sewing when she was eight and continued through high school because she realized she could increase her wardrobe by a factor of 10 if she could make her own clothes. Peggy was a kindergarten teacher in Newport Mesa Unified School District for 41 years and continued to sew.

When this horrific pandemic began she starting making masks and giving them to friends only asking two things: to send her a “selfie” and “pay it forward”. However, some people were confused and kept leaving little gifts at her doorstep, so she decided to change her tactic. She knew that masks were needed all over the place, so she began to give masks to medical workers, retirement home workers, market workers, restaurant workers and more.

Knowing that there were actually people in America without food, she researched the best place to help and found “Feeding America” which received the highest four- star rating from Charity Navigator in that 97% of their donations go to providing food banks across America.

So in order to fix the gifts-on-the-doorstep dilemma, she decided to ask for $5 donations for each mask and the money goes directly to the Los Angeles Chapter of Feeding America.

Every other day Peggy waits in line at Joann’s Fabrics to get the colorful material that she needs to make these masks. She makes her colorful masks for men, women and now children so they can go to the store with their parents. She says she chooses the colorful material so she won’t get bored.

Peggy, our now local angel, has made 366 masks and counting. She averages 20 a day, and even had to buy a new sewing machine because her old one was worn out. She has raised way more than $1,200 for Feeding America.

“Real strength has to do with helping others.” “All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors—in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.” Mister Rogers

Peggy Engard is who Mister Rogers is talking about. She has definitely given something valuable to this world.