Medical Masks

Sunday, March 22nd, I dug around through my craft stash to see if I had the materials to make medical masks. I joke that all creatives have a stash…sometimes it’s supplies, sometimes it’s weed, sometimes it’s both.  All I’ll say about my stash is that I don’t share it often. Anyway, back to the story. I discovered I did have the supplies needed and could make 11 masks total.  So I reached out to my friends on facebook and asked if those in the medical community could even use the masks or if they were pointless.  I shared I was happy to make them to donate, but that I wasn’t sure if they were even helpful.

Almost immediately a friend hooked me up with a friend and I soon discovered that they are needed and being used to prolong the life of the N95 masks (the ones that do the real protecting). The friend of a friend of a friend is a nurse at a local hospital and they were trying to gather 3 handmade masks per nurse. There are 75 nurses in her unit.  Holy cow! I only had enough material to make 11.  But I felt so badly that there was that much of a need.

We’re in this together

Unfortunately because of this virus, my income has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. So I reached out to customers, friends, and family on social media and asked for help to get more materials to full fill this nurse’s need. In less than an hour we had all the materials we needed either being shipped to us or money donated to buy what was missing.  It’s so incredibly beautiful to see a community rally together for the greater good.

As the news spread, more people reached out to us for masks for their units.  In the last week we have made hundreds of masks.  I won’t lie, it is exhausting at times.  But we owe the people on the front lines so much.  This is truly the absolute least we can do.

Masks for the Masses

When I originally wrote this post, I was still unwilling to sell masks to individuals.  I had a few reasons for that. First and foremost medical professionals are on the front lines daily and have a PPE shortage.  It made sense that making masks to donate to them was priority.  Second, when we first started making masks, people donated money and supplies for the cause.  It did not seem right to profit off of their good will.  Third, it feels icky to make money off of people’s fears.

But in just the few weeks that we’ve been making these, things have changed.  The government is now suggesting that we all wear masks.  We’ve gone through all the supplies that were donated. And we’re still very much committed to donating to the medical community.  With all that in mind, we are now willing to sell masks to the public. For each mask that’s purchased, we’ll donate a mask to a local hospital.  So just know that when you buy yourself a mask, you’re also sponsoring a mask for a medical professional. Click the button below to make a purchase.

People have asked how they can support us through this.  My answer is simple: buy from our website.  That is how we make money.  If you can’t afford to buy from us or have no need for a baby item, share our website with someone that needs/wants to buy a baby gift. Follow us on social media (links below). Share our posts.  Those three things: buy, follow, share are the ways you can help any small business at this time.

Please stay safe and take good care of yourselves.

‘Til next time,

~jen