Local nurse makes masks to aid her community

Renee Mills was on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, so she knew how badly the public needed protective gear.

“I just thought, ‘Oh gosh, this is going to be really bad and I wish there was something I could do,’” the nurse at Erlanger said. “And I thought I could at least make masks.”

In the past few weeks of April, Mills has sewn 225 masks for people in her community, including members of her church and employees at the nearby Walmart in Hixson. Mills, who is a hobby quilter, went to the Missouri Star Quilt Company website for help and quickly found a pattern for homemade masks.

“It’s something that I can do right from my house and help out other people,” Mills said. “And I think God calls us to help other people.”

She used flannel so the inside would be softer, and cotton so the masks could be heated if people were reusing them. At one point, she ran out of elastic for the ear straps. An online order would take weeks and the local store was sold out, so Mills made do with hair ties.

By the end of April, she could make a mask in about 20 minutes, she said. Her work area was “like Ford,” she said. At one station, she cuts all the fabric. At another, she sews the fabric together. At another, she makes all the straps. And so on.

The project started because Mills knew there were members of Dallas Bay Church in Hixson who are elderly or whose immune systems are compromised, among the most at risk of dying from the coronavirus. The church announced anyone who needed a mask should contact her. Soon, Mills was making masks for members of other churches, said Aaron Goccia, a pastor at Dallas Bay.

“It was just a member of our community that saw a need and it was another member of the community who could fill that need,” Goccia said. “It’s neat to see people stepping up, doing that.”

When another church member who works at the Hixson Walmart learned employees would need to begin wearing masks, Mills volunteered to help. She made about 50 masks for employees there, Mills said.

Masks help stop the spread of COVID-19, which as of Wednesday has infected more than 10,300 Tennessee residents and killed at least 195 people.

Goccia said his church has been helping with tornado relief efforts in other parts of the county, but it feels especially good to be able to help keep neighbors safe during the ongoing pandemic.

Mills said she was grateful for the opportunity.

“If you love one another you’re going to put action to it. You’re going to do something,” she said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RENEE MILLS Renee Mills, a local nurse, wears a mask she made. Mills began sewing masks for members of the community who did not have them. She said she has made at least 225 masks.