By STEPHA POULIN
BG Independent Correspondent
Sewing has become a way to serve the community while staying home.
As of Thursday, Erica Grossman and a team of 12 volunteers have donated 960 washable face masks to medical professionals, essential workers and everyday people. They’ve received requests for more than 1,200 masks.
It all started after a friend made a Facebook post urging Grossman to use her sewing skills to make medical masks in light of COVID-19. Now the group is producing masks and N95 covers, along with taking special requests from medical professionals.
Grossman, a mom of two who works from home, went public with her plan on March 20. She started sourcing monetary donations on Facebook and taking requests for masks from anyone in need, first reaching out to Wood County Hospital and Mauer Family Cancer Care Center.
“About two or three days in, I realized I wouldn’t be able to make as many masks as requested,” Grossman said in a phone interview. Within 24 hours, $420 was donated — enough for 420 masks.
She’s put her business, Blanquility, “on the back burner,” she said.
Requests have skyrocketed since the CDC changed its guidelines on face masks.
“I haven’t really had any unwinding time the last two-and-half weeks,” Grossman said while laughing at the concept of free time.
Thankfully she has support from friends and volunteers.
Marion Bock, a stay-at-home mom of three, first helped by offering Grossman some elastic, a material now in short supply due to demand for masks. After hearing how many masks Grossman intended to make, Bock was eager to join the project.
“My husband and I love to help people, and I got excited I could still serve people from my home,” Bock said.
At the start of Ohio’s stay-at-home order, sheltering in place made Bock feel like she’d lost the chance to help others. But making masks allowed her reconnect to the community.
“I feel like working on this made me excited to pull together with the community, to help each other out,” Bock said. “When we were told the schools were shutting down, we felt like there was nothing we could do. But it’s given me a sense of control.”
Bock spends about three hours making masks four days a week, averaging about 20 masks a day. Although this is a great help, more was needed.
The next day, Allison Mills offered her assistance.
Mills, a high school intervention specialist at Otsego Schools, sews masks when she’s not reaching out to her students and homeschooling her four children.
It’s been “a blur” since the project first began, Mills said, but she’s finding the time to serve others and take care of her family. She’s taken to setting up a sewing table in front of her house, being watchful of her children as they ride their bikes while she makes masks for around two hours.
“It probably looked kinda weird, but some people would walk by and see me making masks and say, ‘Keep going!’” Mills said.
Regardless of anyone thinking the sight was silly, Mills was still inspired by the encouragement.
“It’s been awesome to see how everyone has come together,” Mills said. “I’m glad Erica had this idea — I’m appreciative. It takes a lot of time and organization to pull something like this off.”
In the three weeks since their mask-making endeavor began, the group has faced few challenges since gaining more help. Even people who can’t sew are picking up sheers to pre-cut materials.
The elastic shortage forced Grossman to abandon her first design, but she quickly worked out a new one, ingeniously replacing the elastic with hair ties from the dollar store.
Whether making masks or running her business, Grossman strives to produce creations with others in mind.
In 2017, Grossman officially founded Blanquility, an online shop with options for those with sensory needs. She’s designed sensory aids like weighted blankets since 2013, after having her youngest child diagnosed with sensory processing disorder.
“Everything I make and sell has a specific purpose behind it, and a specific person in mind when it’s made,” Grossman said.
That hasn’t changed since switching her focus to masks.
