Mask Makers
Area homemakers take action
to make coronavirus masks
Local citizens also get busy, contribute
to a safe community.
LA GRANGE, Ky. (June 2020) – Amid the shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, many concerned citizens and homemaker groups are pitching in to lend a helping hand. Those who sew and are crafty often have an extra supply of material and are putting it to good use during this time of national crisis.
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Homemaker organizations from Cooperative Extension services across the state have been answering the call to make masks, along with local citizens who own a sewing machine. Amy Tyler is an Oldham County, Ky., homemaker originally from Carroll County who decided to take part in the call to help that was sent out by Oldham County Cooperative Extension Service.
“I started making masks, and friends from Carroll County joined in,” said Tyler. She has been encouraging people to sew through Facebook tutorials.
So far, she has made 800 masks by herself. “I’m just doing my best to help out and to make a difference.”
Tyler’s pattern for the masks came from her son’s eye surgery doctor, who had gotten it from a hospital in Evansville, Ind. At the beginning of the pandemic, “I just saw a need,” said Tyler, who could foresee somewhat of what was coming.
“I saw what was going on in New York and thought, ‘If it could happen there, it’s going to happen here.’ ”
Tyler said she knew how to crochet and thought that skill might be useful in making masks. She contacted Traci Missun, Agriculture & Natural Resources Agent for Oldham County Cooperative Extension Service, and was told crocheted masks were not acceptable, so she learned how to sew masks that could be used.
The masks Tyler makes are sewed from flannel and cotton material, which is the type of material suggested in the pattern she used. If flannel is not available, two pieces of cotton can be used. As more masks are needed, “supplies are getting hard to find,” she said.
Tyler has donated masks to Walmart, local hospitals, nurses at the University of Louisville and the Oldham County and Carroll County police departments. Her latest effort is to sew masks for the Carrollton Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to be used for a mission project.
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Photo provided Amy Tyler of Oldham County models one of her homemade masks. |
“It’s a work in progress,” said Pastor Tammie Douglas. “Amy reached out to me,” and Douglas decided to donate the masks to the Navaho Nation, a community that has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus.
“I saw a story on the Navaho Nation and the desperate need for masks,” said Douglas. She posted a plea for masks on the church’s Facebook page and her own personal page. By the time her church re-opens for in-person services on June 7, she hopes to have masks to send to the reservation that occupies areas of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.
“It is one of the hot spots that you don’t hear a lot about,” Douglas said. “Their resources are limited,” and therefore the Navaho community has a great need for things such as masks.
Tina Wright is a friend of Tyler’s who is also sewing masks for those in need. Wright owns Double Deuce’s Bar & Grill in Ghent, Ky., and while her restaurant is closed, she decided to pitch in since she had a sewing machine.
Although she is crafty she had “never used a sewing machine in my life,” Wright said. She knew she wanted to help others and stay busy. “I wanted to find something positive to do.”
Using material donated from a gentleman in Carrollton whose wife was a former quilter and had died, she was able to “supply four girls in Carrollton with material to make masks.”
She said the process “has been a challenge,” but Tyler was so positive and encouraging about it that Wright knew after making the first 15 masks, “I can do this.”
She initially made 250 and gave them away at Wal-Mart. Then when Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced it was necessary wear masks in public beginning May 11, Wright made 400 more. She’s planning to make 100 masks for Cutting Edge hair salon in Carrollton before the business re-opens. Like most making masks, “I’ve done them all for free,” she said.
“The University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital reached out to the UK Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Department to recruit Extension Offices to send in masks,” said Christin Herbst, Carroll County Cooperative Extension Agent for Agriculture & Natural Resources.
“At the time, they were asking for 200 masks statewide,” she said. “They provided specific instructions for how to sew the masks. We put out our request through our Carroll County Extension Facebook page and sent 29 masks toward the project as of May 1.”
The Carroll County office did not have any particular Homemakers group work on the project, “but rather, wanted to see what response we could get from the general public.” Two different cloth mask patterns were requested, and 200 masks were asked for statewide, Herbst said.
“This request was asked the beginning of April, and since it was a statewide request, I am not sure how many they received. Certainly, if they request more masks, we’ll make an effort to help supply some,” said Herbst.
Since educational meetings have not been allowed to take place in person, Herbst said that “we have had better success with our efforts to provide enrichment activities to our community during this time.” Known as “Snag-A-Bag,” these are activity packets made for families to pick up on the front porch of the Extension Office each week.
“They have been geared toward families, children and individuals,” she said. “Some of the topics included thus far are STEM projects to do at home – gardening, stocking your pantry, animal sciences and natural resources.”
The Extension Service partnered with the local Family Resource Center with the Carroll County School District to aid in distributing the packets.
Approximately 100 packets are made available each week and advertised through the extension Facebook page.
• Anyone wanting to donate to the Navaho Nation face mask project is urged to contact Tammie Douglas at (502) 732-5708.
