I wear a mask because I love this community. I wear a mask because I don’t want to accidentally infect someone with COVID-19—I don’t want to be the reason that someone else needs to be quarantined, gets sick or even dies. True, I’m a worrier—I worry about my community’s health both physically and economically. I also believe that if more people wore masks, we could continue to reopen Haines safely. There is so much we cannot control, so much anxiety, so much fear, so one of the few things I can control is my effect on others—I can wear a mask to help keep you safer. It’s because I care a lot.

Alekka Fullerton