MIDLAND, Texas — A Midland woman started a Facebook group called 'Masks in Midland'.
That's after going out to dinner one night and struggling to find a restaurant that was following the governors mask mandate.
When the Midland City Council decided against enforcing the mask mandate in Midland, Heather Bredimus decided it was up to the community to hold businesses accountable.
"My husband and I both spoke at the city council meetings hoping for a mask mandate but when we realized that our city wasn't going to do that, we realized that the community was going to have to work together and find places that are following the CDC guidelines," said Bredimus.
"It's just to encourage businesses and business owners to follow safety guidelines so that their employees and customers can remain safe while we still try and boost our economy."
The concept behind the self-proclaimed grassroots group is pretty simple.
"Take a picture of business that you enter that have a sign on the door stating that customers and employees are required to wear masks or if they've limited their occupancy and post it on the Facebook group so we know where to go," explained Bredimus.
The powerful message behind the group was inspired by front line workers.
"My husband is the chief nursing officer at the hospital and many of my friends are nurses there and I know how important it is to keep our community healthy," said Bredimus. "Because the hospital is kind of at the brink right now, the beds are filling up and pretty soon we're not going to have the resources that our city needs."
The nearly two-week-old group has over 500 members so far, a reminder to businesses that aren't enforcing the mandate that even if the city isn't holding them accountable, customers are.
"As the community becomes more aware of how these mitigation protocols will help slow the virus they will be less likely to visit their business so its in their best interest to follow CDC guidelines," said Bredimus.
The Facebook group is meant to be positive resource for those living in Midland who want to find places to shop where they know employees and customers will be wearing masks.