The Auntie Sewing Squad was founded on March 24, 2020 by performance artist and comedian Kristina Wong as a casual effort to connect with other friends sewing homemade masks for essential workers due to the Federal Government’s failure to prepare them with proper personal protective equipment. Originally intended as a three week stopgap, the Auntie Sewing Squad went on for 17 months, grew to a network of 800+ volunteer Aunties across 33 states who sewed and shipped 350k masks to vulnerable communities.  The work of ASS was documented by the Aunties themselves in The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice published by the University of California Press. ASS is also the subject of  "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord"-- this year's finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.