In times of crisis, people find unique ways to share their talents. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many crafters turning their skills to filling one of the biggest shortages-masks.
Angela Vasbinder of Brockway was one of those people. She started the Facebook group, Tri-County Mask Makers on March 22.
Meanwhile, Karen Martell of Clearfield, now retired, and two others were busy making 150 masks for Penn Highlands Clearfield. When she found the Tri-County Mask Makers group, she joined.
The group covers Clearfield, Jefferson and Elk counties. Because the members are spread so far apart, Angela asked for someone to handle Clearfield and Karen volunteered.
They use donated fabric and elastic to make masks with a small pocket for a filter. (Some people are using either coffee filters or paper towels as filters.) They are washable and can be used over and over.
The whole enterprise is well organized with volunteers cutting the materials to make kits that are then given to people who sew them up.
When the pandemic started, Karen said “it laid in my heart to do something” and making masks seemed to be the best use of her talents.
Currently the Clearfield group is working on items for the Children’s Aid Society and for distribution to seniors by the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging.
“We get requests all the time,” she said and they fill them as needed, sewing 10 or 20 here and there.
After the state began requiring all employees and customers to wear masks, Karen commented that the group is just “getting started.”
To emphasize the importance of the masks, Karen quoted Dr. Rachel Levine, the state’s secretary of health who often says “My mask protects you and your mask protects me.”
At this point, the group relies on individual donations and it does not charge anyone.
“There are so many generous people,” she said mentioning an elderly woman in Croft who donated a lot of fabric.
“Because of the goodness of people like her, we can keep going.”
On April 11, Angela stated the group had made over 1,000 masks for the Tri-County area.
With the increasing demand, Karen is still looking for fabric donations and volunteers in the Clearfield-Curwensville-Grampian area.
If you need a mask, there is a form on the Facebook page to fill out, but note that the group is focusing on high-risk individuals and facilities first.
If you would like to donate tightly woven cotton or cotton/polyester fabric or 1/4” or 1/8” elastic cord to any branch of the group, you can contact Angela, Karen or the other coordinators through the Facebook page.
Another local crafter, Bella Walls of Clearfield, daughter of Dawn Winters and Calvin Walls, has been working on a different item to bring relief for those who wear masks for long periods of time.
The small “ear savers” are a band of crocheted yarn with two buttons at either end, designed to hold the bands on masks away from the ears at the back of the head.
Bella said she just started crocheting in December. Recently when she saw people in some of the online crochet groups making these items, she decided to make some herself.
It takes only four minutes to make one and she has made over 200 so far, she said.
Local people have been able to pick them up from her porch but she has also been mailing them.
Through Facebook people have discovered her services leading to her sending ear savers to people in Philadelphia, Idaho and Arizona, she said.
She is offering them for free, but her priority is providing them to health care personnel and essential workers.
Bella is an enterprising girl with her own business, the Creative Fox.
She makes jewelry including bracelets, necklaces and earrings that she sells at local craft shows and businesses.
When asked why she decided to make the ear savers, being a teenager, of course she simply replied “I was bored.”
Many teens are bored these days but few have stepped up to provide a vital service as Bella has done during this crisis.
If you are interested in getting some ear savers or in donating yarn and buttons to help Bella continue her mission, you can e-mail her at earsaversrequest@gmail.com.