Doris Sullivan and her team of volunteers made more than 13,000 face masks for those in need across southeastern Alberta.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
When Doris Sullivan received a call requesting masks for those in need, she picked up the phone and watched the community come together around her.
What started as a small sewing operation quickly multiplied to include about 45 people volunteering time to help fabricate, launder, catalog and distribute more than 13,000 face masks to charities and frontline businesses across southeastern Alberta.
“We had a huge team, it wasn’t just one person,” said Sullivan. “I just would like to thank all my sewers and all the people who worked alongside. We not only had sewers, we had somebody that looked after our donations, we had somebody that took the orders, we had somebody that did the driving around, picking up and dropping off of supplies.
“We had five people that did laundry, because everything that came from the sewers, to be safe, they had to be laundered and ironed, and then they were taken to somebody else to be bagged and labelled about the appropriate use of a mask and how to put it on.”
Sullivan says she initially received a call from Dr. Nicoelle Wanner on March 20 requesting a batch of masks to be donated to the homeless. After setting a goal of 1,000, Sullivan quickly realized she would need more help, and reached out to the community.
“After that first weekend of getting everything set up and organized, I realized this was much too big of a job for myself so I contacted some of my friends who sew and my support has been phenomenal,” said Sullivan. “We wanted to give them to the homeless, so we gave them to Medicine Hat Housing, to the homeless, to the Mustard Seed, to the women’s shelter – to all the vulnerable sectors.
“Then we started giving them to some of the grocery stores, like the frontline workers, and then we went into Brooks – and they went all over in Brooks.”
Supplies have been difficult to come by through the pandemic, but Sullivan says they received overwhelming support and donations from the community to help keep the cause alive.
“I supplied quite a bit of my sewing fabric, then we put out a blurb to ask for donations, and my goodness, we got some wonderful donations of good fabric,” she said, adding the design evolved over time. “We started out by making a fitted mask, and then we went to the 3-by-9, two-pleated mask. We used two layers of good, quality cotton and a layer of interfacing until we couldn’t get interfacing anymore, then we put in a third layer of cotton. They would be approved by Alberta Health standards.”
While the bulk of the face masks they created have been donated, Sullivan says she’s sitting on a surplus of about 2,500. As a result, she’s requested those helping with sewing take a well-deserved break, as a second wave could create more demand in the coming months.
“I encouraged them all to take a break and recharge their batteries, because if this should resurface – like we have heard it’s going to – in the fall, then we will be rested and ready to go again,” she said. “We have fabric that is cut and ready for them to go. Everything is ready to start up again at the drop of a hat.”
