Eco Chic crew sews up added support
About a dozen people from the Eco Chic program run through Links for Greener Learning are using their skills to sew masks for people who need them.
Links for Greener Learning is a local non-profit that runs several programs for community members, including students and newcomers, that promote sustainable practices while participants learn and earn income.
Normally, they make new items from discarded materials, but with the need for masks so high right now they have shifted their focus.
“People have been supporting us so now it’s our turn to support those people who need it,” said Yaneth Londono, executive director of Links for Greener Learning. “The idea is to provide (masks) to people who are exposed to other people. They are working with clients, they are delivering meals to people who need it.”
“People that are working with seniors, they can contact us. Wherever they need it, they can contact us and we can see how much we can give them.”
The masks are each crafted with colourful, patterned cotton, adding a flare to otherwise drab medical masks that have become commonplace since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
Londono has struggled to find supplies to make the masks, elastic in particular. She ended up finding some at a dollar store, but it wasn’t ideal. Volunteers have still managed to get about 200 masks sewn in the one week they have been working.
Hearing about their struggle, Shaw Festival donated the cotton fabric and elastic they need to make more.
In order to comply with social distancing rules, participants cannot work out of Grace Anglican Church like they had been.
“Most of the women are working from home because we cannot get together, so what we are doing is putting the fabric together, putting the elastic together, the pattern together. We provide everything and we deliver it to them, to their houses and they make the mask from those items,” said Londono.
Many of the participants in the program already knew how to sew, others are trained.
Alejandra Arala used to sew nurses uniforms and masks in her native Colombia, so when Londono asked her to create a pattern for a face mask it was a simple task. She quickly had three patterns ready to go, one for a child, a woman and a man.
Londono can still use any donations of new 100 per cent cotton fabric and elastic. To make a donation, email yanethld@linksforgreenerlearning.org, message through the Links for Greener Learning Facebook page or visit linksforgreenerlearning.org.
People or organizations that meet the criteria and need masks can ask through the same channels.