Rochester volunteers band together to confront shortage of face masks
Headbands. Twist ties. Pipe cleaners. Cotton fabric. Elastic bands.
In normal times, those things are not closely related to one another… but as you know, these aren’t normal times. With the help of a sewing machine (and someone who knows how to use it), those materials can combine to form a makeshift face mask.
As hospitals stock up on medical-grade face masks to prepare for COVID-19 patients, Rochester’s tailors and quilters are using their knowledge of the craft to pick up on some of the other demand, sending their creations to organizations that still need protection.
Brooke Burch, a local fashion designer who runs a custom sewing and alteration business, started making masks a couple weeks ago after seeing various friends post their own creations on social media. She started by using extra cotton fabric in her studio, but now she’s taken a facilitator’s role: finding the materials (which are in short supply), cutting them up to the desired length, and distributing the packs to sewers across the city.
After making her own social media posts showcasing her designs and asking for further help, she said support from volunteers has poured in.
“It’s really cool to see people step up to the plate with these masks,” said Burch. “People are donating fabric, donating their time to make them, and donating funds as well.”
Burch uses standard cotton fabric, which makes the masks washable and reusable. After sewing in a twist tie to make sure the mask fits snug over the nose, she attaches pipe cleaners or pieces of dollar-store headbands to act as ear loops.
Altogether, it takes about 15 minutes to cut, sew and assemble one of these masks. Burch says she’s made about 80 masks in four days for two main recipients: Cottagewood Senior Living and the Rochester Community Warming Center, with hundreds more in the pipeline for the coming days. These masks are a “last-resort” option — especially for those on the front lines of the outbreak, according to the CDC — but for other workers and volunteers not dealing with COVID-19 patients who still need protection, homemade masks are becoming a viable option for now.
“People are wrapping bandanas around their face,” said Burch. “They’re using anything they can find. So it’s nice, at least, for the healthcare workers to not have to tie anything on. They can just sling it behind their ears. It’s one less thing to worry about.”
Becoming part of the solution
Separate from Burch’s operation, another group has been working tirelessly to make masks: the Rochester Quilters’ Sew-ciety, led by Carol Best.
Best says she was called to action on Friday after seeing a post from Indiana’s Deaconess Hospital asking for homemade masks. She soon got in touch with Rochester Mayor Kim Norton and said she would help coordinate a similar effort in Rochester, if there was ever a need.
A few hours later, Mayor Norton told Best the situation was already dire enough to start acting. Not long after, she was in contact with Dr. Beth Kangas, executive director of the Zumbro Valley Medical Society. In conjunction with them, the first round of Best’s masks were sent to Family Service Rochester earlier this week.
“It helps to stay in the solution and not sit in the problem,” said Best.
April Sutor, director of innovation and collaboration for Family Service Rochester, said the masks went to their Meals on Wheels volunteers, delivering hot food to people who have a hard time leaving the house. She said the masks add another layer of protection for both volunteers and meal recipients alike, and they were a needed addition to a program that delivers meals almost exclusively to seniors — some with added health risks.
“[Beth] reached out and asked if we needed any type of face masks, knowing that we're delivering meals to a very vulnerable population,” Sutor said. “I said, ‘We can’t get any. You can’t order them, there’s nothing.’ She told me the Rochester Quilters were making cloth face masks that could still help protect at some level, and asked if we were interested.”
After a round of design tests and approval from Sutor, Best’s masks were ready to go. She said her production rate was nearly identical to Burch’s; she can make about four masks per hour. She’s also using washable and reusable cotton fabric, but using exclusively elastic bands for the ear loops. (She has recorded a video detailing her mask-making process.)
It all came together so quickly for Best — quilting as normal on Thursday, making face masks for a pandemic on Monday — but it’s been a worthwhile change of priorities.
“I was thinking, this must have been what it felt like in World War II, when all the women took all the extra fabric they had to make bandages,” said Best. “That’s really what it felt like. We’ve all banded together.”
After finishing the job with Family Service Rochester, the Quilters’ next job will be to make a few hundred masks for Bear Creek Services. In addition to the members of the “sew-ciety” all over Rochester, Best said her grandkids wanted to get involved. It’s a multi-generational affair, one that Best says will instill values that last long after the pandemic winds down.
“As a grandmother, and now as a great-grandmother, that’s the type of legacy I’d like to leave for them,” Best said. “That’s what we do… we help others, whether it’s a pandemic or just a normal day. We just help others.”
Where the Hospitals Stand
Both of Rochester’s main hospitals have been approached by lots of people willing and able to make masks, but at this point, both Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center say their supply of masks is well-stocked.
OMC did put a call to action on their Facebook page Sunday morning, after asking their volunteers to make masks last week. The resulting influx of donations (masks numbering in the hundreds, with a few thousand more in the pipeline) calmed some worries; and at this point, the hospital system is limiting requests for new masks.
“We currently have no shortage, but we are concerned if people don’t stay home and COVID-19 spreads, we along with other healthcare facilities will be stretched on supplies,” said OMC spokesperson Barb Sorensen. “We know that homemade masks are not the answer to every medical situation, but they can help us conserve the limited supply of masks.”
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
Cover photo: Brooke Burch assembles a homemade mask
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