Mask Making Mania in our ‘Hood
By Tracy Waters and Laurel Harroun
It all started when pal Sen connected me with the Kaiser Midwives. It was early March, and we were at the onset of a pandemic. They’re expecting 300 new babies in April and they’re short on masks. Would I make sixteen to start? What kind? What size? Midwives sent me to YouTube. “Sure, I can build you some of those.” Three layers, room for a paper filter. Who needs elastic? We can make the ties. Yes, there IS wire for nose pieces. “Laurel, can you come up and help me?” For years Laurel has cheered me on about the sewing projects but has never reached over to help. But during quarantine she risked scorching her untrained fingers and learned to fold those skinny strips three times, so I could stitch them securely. Then she negotiated that spool of wire into the malleable nose pieces required to make those masks fit.
Sixteen done for the Kaiser Midwives, what about our friends and neighbors? Sharon Barthmaier wanted one too and offered to write a check to the Oregon Food Bank in trade. Whatta concept! Sure! What color do you like? RED. I’ve got some of that. And so it began in earnest.We made masks for our friends in town. We made masks for our pals at the Grange. Once complete, we made plans to meet folks at their mailboxes for deliveries. As we bestowed them I stuck out my hand and asked for Food Bank money. People have been SO generous.
One Sunday, we gathered with others to “drive by celebrate” Donald Jenkins' birthday. I’ve made an effort to individualize those masks to reflect the passions of the wearer. But that morning there were some attractive but “extras” which didn’t have potential partners. I brought them along and worked the crowd. I managed to extract another $60.00 from that lovely bunch of folks. Laurel took that cash and went to two grocery stores for fresh fruit and vegetables. She learned that the Linnton Food Pantry had been flooded with requests. They usually served 35 families each Tuesday but the previous week they’d been slammed. 95 families had needed help and all the stuff was in a can or a bag. There was very little fresh anything. So she dropped off those items on that Monday. They’re the nicest folks down there and were SO grateful.
I’ve kept sewing. It’s quarantine, folks are still in need, so what else is there to do? It’s important to note that fellow Granger and quilter extraordinaire Cindi Cramer has donated acres of fabric for this project. Whenever I don’t have the exact thing for that person I reach out to her, visit the Cramer Resource Center and she lets me harvest the perfect piece of fabric for that person. Thank you Cindi!!! Then the orders started to pile up. Bobbie wants ten. Sara wants ten. Laura wants 3 more. I broadened my circle and asked clients in Forest Grove if they needed masks. Our niece in Nebraska would like 5, please. Now, we’re up to 138 completed masks and when that check from Nebraska arrives we will have generated $2045.00 for the Oregon Food Bank.
Thank you to EVERYONE who chipped in to help! Yes, I’ll accept more orders, twenty bucks each to the Food Bank, if you can?
(RR 07/20)
It all started when pal Sen connected me with the Kaiser Midwives. It was early March, and we were at the onset of a pandemic. They’re expecting 300 new babies in April and they’re short on masks. Would I make sixteen to start? What kind? What size? Midwives sent me to YouTube. “Sure, I can build you some of those.” Three layers, room for a paper filter. Who needs elastic? We can make the ties. Yes, there IS wire for nose pieces. “Laurel, can you come up and help me?” For years Laurel has cheered me on about the sewing projects but has never reached over to help. But during quarantine she risked scorching her untrained fingers and learned to fold those skinny strips three times, so I could stitch them securely. Then she negotiated that spool of wire into the malleable nose pieces required to make those masks fit.
Sixteen done for the Kaiser Midwives, what about our friends and neighbors? Sharon Barthmaier wanted one too and offered to write a check to the Oregon Food Bank in trade. Whatta concept! Sure! What color do you like? RED. I’ve got some of that. And so it began in earnest.We made masks for our friends in town. We made masks for our pals at the Grange. Once complete, we made plans to meet folks at their mailboxes for deliveries. As we bestowed them I stuck out my hand and asked for Food Bank money. People have been SO generous.
One Sunday, we gathered with others to “drive by celebrate” Donald Jenkins' birthday. I’ve made an effort to individualize those masks to reflect the passions of the wearer. But that morning there were some attractive but “extras” which didn’t have potential partners. I brought them along and worked the crowd. I managed to extract another $60.00 from that lovely bunch of folks. Laurel took that cash and went to two grocery stores for fresh fruit and vegetables. She learned that the Linnton Food Pantry had been flooded with requests. They usually served 35 families each Tuesday but the previous week they’d been slammed. 95 families had needed help and all the stuff was in a can or a bag. There was very little fresh anything. So she dropped off those items on that Monday. They’re the nicest folks down there and were SO grateful.
I’ve kept sewing. It’s quarantine, folks are still in need, so what else is there to do? It’s important to note that fellow Granger and quilter extraordinaire Cindi Cramer has donated acres of fabric for this project. Whenever I don’t have the exact thing for that person I reach out to her, visit the Cramer Resource Center and she lets me harvest the perfect piece of fabric for that person. Thank you Cindi!!! Then the orders started to pile up. Bobbie wants ten. Sara wants ten. Laura wants 3 more. I broadened my circle and asked clients in Forest Grove if they needed masks. Our niece in Nebraska would like 5, please. Now, we’re up to 138 completed masks and when that check from Nebraska arrives we will have generated $2045.00 for the Oregon Food Bank.
Thank you to EVERYONE who chipped in to help! Yes, I’ll accept more orders, twenty bucks each to the Food Bank, if you can?
(RR 07/20)