By Brenna Reker & Carrie Moritz
On Friday, the CDC revised its recommendations to encourage the public to wear masks, though they also requested we use fabric masks, leaving disposable surgical masks and N95-style masks for medical workers, who are currently finding them in short supply due to the pandemic. To help produce fabric masks, several people have stepped up and started making them, including some folks in Garretson.
Brenna Reker is a 5th grader at Garretson Elementary, and is a member of the Springdell 4-H club. She opted to start sewing masks as a community service project for 4-H.
“I had extra time. No sports to play, and my room is cleaned, and homework for the week is done,” she wrote to the Gazette. “So I thought about starting some 4-H projects. One day on KELO Living they showed how to sew these masks. I have sewn clothes for 4-H and this looked like something I could do.”
Initially, she planned on making some to donate to Avera Hospital, but when she found out people in Garretson were requesting masks, she opted to start making them for donation to the community.
“I found a location that Garretson people can pick up a mask and continue social distancing. You can get a mask at O So Good,” she wrote. “They are free or you can leave a donation to cover supplies to make more masks.”
Fabric masks, while not as highly protective as surgical or N95 masks, do provide at least some protection. The coronavirus particles are approximately 0.2 microns in size, and cotton fabric masks filter out about 50% of those particles. However, they also work to prevent larger respiration particles (for instance, spittle) from entering the mouth or nose, which, along with touching the face, are the main ways the virus enters the body. Wearing glasses helps to protect the eyes.
Reker, while possibly the youngest mask-maker in Garretson, is not the only person who has put her skills to work. Others, such as Mary Tilberg, her sister Laurie Nussbaum, and community member Lisa Meinders (former editor of the Gazette) have also put their sewing machines to work.
A special education evaluator for the Sioux Falls School District, Tilberg suddenly found herself with a lot of extra time when schools closed due to the pandemic.
“All of my work is contact with kids,” she said. “I’m an evaluator. I do the testing. I can’t do that on Zoom.”
One day, Tilberg was perusing Facebook. After reading a post about masks being needed for healthcare workers by her sister in law, who lives in the Washington, D.C area, and watching some YouTube videos on how to make them, Tilberg opted to start making masks for Sanford Hospital to use.
“My sewing machine has been stuck in the closet for a year and a half or more,” Tilberg said. “I don’t do anything fancy but have some fabric stocked away.” Her sister Laurie got in on it as well, and between the two of them, they have made over 100 masks.
“I call it my own personal sweatshop,” she said of her dining room, which she has converted to her sewing area.
Both Reker and Tilberg have been making their masks out of 100% cotton, the most-requested fabric by the CDC and local hospitals. Tilberg has been making a rectangular style with pleats similar to surgical masks, and Reker has been making an “Olson-style,” which is more similar to a respirator mask.
Tilberg says she found initial instructions via the CDC website, then used a few YouTube videos to sew her masks. Since then, she’s been playing with some different styles and fabrics, and is planning to start adding metal nose pieces to hers. She noted that pipe cleaners have been suggested, and as a preschool teacher, she has plenty of those.
Reker wrote that her mask was suggested by Avera, and provided a pattern that was released by Unity Point Health of Cedar Rapids.
“The mask is made of 100% cotton (quilter’s cotton or flannel), both were pre-laundered so they shouldn’t shrink,” wrote Reker. “These materials filter out approximately 50% of 0.2 micron particles, similar in size to the coronavirus. They are also easy to breathe through. These masks are recommended by Avera Hospital website. [They wrote] ‘Creating cloth masks for our patients and employees right now will assist in the further conservation of our precious protective equipment during this time of need. These homemade masks will help extend what is available to providers, nurses and others.’”
Both Tilberg and Reker have been working with donations, and are providing their masks for donation or free of charge. Tilberg noted that fabric donations by community or area members Crystal Williams, Lisa Meinders, and Jean McPadden, plus elastic donations by Angie Lardy, Jan Johnson, Sharon Dixon, Jackie Engebretson, and DeVonna Engebretson, have been lifesavers.
“It’s kind of like a loaves and fishes sort of thing,” Tilberg said. “There’s always just enough.” Which is wonderful, since elastic has been in short supply.
Tilberg has not been keeping any masks in stock, as any extras go to Sanford Hospital, but is willing to make a few for families with some lead time. Reker is placing her masks at O So Good, where people can pick some up at no charge or for a donation.
With any luck, using these fabric masks can help slow the pandemic, but they still do not replace staying home and handwashing. Those two behaviors will do more to stop the pandemic than any other measure. Hopefully, with all three measures, the pandemic can be stopped in its tracks, and some normalcy can be resumed.
