Drama Students Produce and Present “Circle of Care” Bags to Local Nurses

Article by: Rosa Linda Reynoso

After state and local stay-at-home orders were issued in March due to COVID-19, Del Mar College Drama Costume Shop faculty and students planned a community service project to keep busy. They put their creativity to work and came up with the “Circle of Care” bags project while keeping in mind the needs of the local nursing community, including the need for protective face masks.

Project name “Circle of Care” comes from the Drama team setting up a protocol to fill the bags in a large circle in the Cole Park Amphitheater to practice social distancing. Faculty and staff also wore their own hand-made masks and used hand sanitizer during the process. In gratitude to local nurses for their heroism, the bags were given to representatives of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.

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On May 14, 2020, Del Mar Drama faculty Shara Haghjoo-Moghadam (from left) and Thomas Goodwin, along with students Kyrstin Garcia, Amy Tran, Jessica Health and Marcus Garcia, presented 50 “Circle of Care” bags filled with goodies and face masks sewn by faculty at home, to local nurses through the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United. The bags were the Drama team’s way to stay busy during stay-at-home orders and a way to say “Thanks!” as a community-service project. (Photo Credit: DMC College Relations)

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Del Mar College Drama Costume Shop supervisor, designer and seamstress Shara Haghjoo-Moghadam joined forces with Del Mar Drama shop manager Thomas Goodwin, a master tailor who donated batik cotton cloth, to sew face masks for the “Circle of Care” bags given to local nurses to say, “Thanks!” (Photo Credit: DMC College Relations)

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Del Mar College Drama Costume Shop students Kyrstin Garcia and Marcus Garcia prepare to put together “Circle of Care” bags on May 14, 2020, as part of a community-service project to show gratitude for the heroism of local nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Drama team completed their project at the Cole Park Amphitheater on Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi, Texas, while practicing protocols and following guidelines to say healthy and safe. (Photo Credit: DMC College Relations)

Meeting using FaceTime to plan the collection of items recommended by local nurses, faculty and students got to work on the project that Shara Haghjoo-Moghadam said, “gave students a purpose during this difficult time.” The DMC Costume Shop supervisor, designer and seamstress joined forces with Thomas Goodwin, a master tailor who donated batik cotton cloth, to sew the bags.

The “Circle of Care” bags were made possible by the generosity and in-kind donations of the DMC Drama program and Costume Shop faculty and staff, including shop tailor Thomas Goodwin and supervisor Haghjoo-Moghadam; the Del Mar College Foundation; Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Skidmore; DMC Drama students Amy Tran, Jessica Heath, Marcus Garcia and Caitlin Sanchez-Velasco; DMC alumni Lee Alvarado; DMC College Relations and anonymous donors.

About Del Mar College

Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.