Misha Collins Mobilizes His Gish Army to Help Caregivers

It’s easy to feel helpless when you’re trapped at home as a pandemic sweeps the country. You know that staying home, in this case, is doing something to stop the spread, but shouldn’t you be doing more? Well, you can. Misha Collins (a.k.a. Castiel of The CW’s Supernatural) is calling on his personal army of weirdos to help cover our caregivers, and that can include you.

Misha Collins has been the human embodiment of chaotic good for a while now, mainly in the form of Gish (formerly known as GISHWHES). The annual international scavenger hunt, founded by Collins, has seen participants doing everything from making portraits of Jensen Ackles out of Skittles to holding staff meetings at the bottom of a pool to getting a mountain on Mars named after the hunt. There are crafts, art, kindness, and a whole lot of weirdness.

The event is a lot of fun, but it also aims to do good and encourage kindness and service to the community. Gish has spearheaded efforts to remove landmines, save threatened forests, changed the lives of communities in Africa, and helped refugees. It truly shows the best of fandom: people coming together to do good simply because it’s fun and reminds them of the show and performer they love.

Well, the annual GISH hunt doesn’t start until August, but Collins, who is stuck sheltering in place like all of us, decided it was time to get his army of kindness and weirdness on the case, so he’s calling on crafty Gishers to make masks for caregivers.

Making masks—or, more specifically, covers for masks—is something a lot of people have turned to as an isolation activity that can really help caregivers right now. Everyone, from the Amish to local Cajun communities in Louisiana, is stepping up to create reusable masks for doctors and nurses on the frontlines.

Never ones to shy away from a challenge Gishers beat the initial goal in 36 hours, but that’s just a start as these efforts ramp up. Collins’ charity, Random Acts, has also started a coronavirus relief fundraising push. It’s a small thing, but it’s something that can make people feel like they’re doing their part in this crisis, and making masks, or supporting those that do, can really help.

We’re all in crisis right now, but that doesn’t mean we’re helpless. There are still ways we can be kind and do good, even from home. We’re glad our favorite angel is encouraging people to be kind, do good, and most importantly, remember that the way we get through this is together.

(image: Jeff Weddell/The CW)

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Jessica Mason

Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.

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