A helping hand indeed
South River seamstress makes masks, takes donations for food bank
Weeks ago, South River seamstress Sharon Stone thought she might raise $200 for the Bay Roberts food bank by offering masks to the community in exchange for donations, but the gesture of goodwill has surpassed her goal tenfold and counting.
As of Thursday, she had raised more than $2,100 by making masks for anyone who needs one, and putting the masks in individual baggies and attaching them to a clothesline outside her home, with an honour jar for donations.
Stone, whose business of 11 years is Sew Bee It, began making the masks as soon as non-essential businesses were ordered shut down in March by the provincial public health order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Of course, I love to sew. (I thought), what can I do to give back, with the anxiety of everything going on?” she explained, adding her husband, Craig, encouraged her when she hit on the idea of making the masks.
She decided a good recipient would be the Helping Hand food bank.
“He said it was a perfect idea,” Stone recounted.
She didn’t want to charge anyone who couldn’t afford the masks, but for those who could spare anything from a dime upward, the food bank needs the help.
“Oh, I am beyond amazed,” Stone said, reporting the total donated by mask recipients as of Thursday.
Stone doesn’t even take any money out for supplies.
The one dilemma she has is running out of elastic, which she can’t find to buy, although a Facebook post managed to get some dropped off by a few people.
She has also donated a total of 300 masks to the military in St. John’s and Gander. Her husband, who retired from the military, is a commander of the Air Force Reserves.
She has made 1,050 masks so far — as many as 200 at a time in the span of two days
“I just picks at ’em,” she said of how much time she spends at it, sometimes eight to 10 hours a day.
Stone said she never envisioned hitting even $1,000 in donations for the food bank.
“It is just absolutely amazing. If I had more elastic, I would keep going. I’m after trying from B.C. to Newfoundland and Labrador. I can’t get any elastic right now,” she said.
Her efforts have also been rewarded with kindnesses.
Stone said a bouquet of flowers was dropped off on her doorstep, as well as inspirational messages and even toilet paper.
“The little messages they are sending me are out of this world. People really appreciate it,” she said.
Both Stone’s son and husband have helped her with the mask endeavour, and her cousin, Debbie Duncan, gave her $200 to help with some supplies, of which Stone donated half to the food bank.
On days that she puts masks out on the clothesline in her driveway, the Stones have asked that people take only four at a time and then get back in the line if they are looking for more for others. About 125 masks have been claimed in the span of 45 minutes. Days in between are for sewing, and she’s also had people waiting near the door for her to finish sewing.
“One day you are working flat out and then you are not working,” Stone said of the business being temporarily halted and the overwhelming, scary feeling that everyone has about the COVID-19 crisis.
“At least I know I am doing something good. I wouldn’t afford to take $2,000 of my own money (to give to the food bank), but at least I am giving back to the community. It’s only for them my business would be operating (in normal times). I want to give back. Everything goes in a circle. Elderly and sick people really need (the masks).”
Stone’s daughter, Stephanie, is a nurse in Ontario, where the Stones were stationed with the military. Stone worries for her every day.
Stephanie is proud of her mother.
“My mom has the biggest heart and has gone above and beyond to contribute to her community. I would love to recognize her efforts and let her know just how much everyone appreciates all that she is doing,” said Stpehanie, who works in the Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s pediatric ward.
“She is doing as much as she can to help. She has always been like that. … She just wants to help others as well.”
At Stephanie’s hospital, they’ve been taking donations of masks to hand out to patients and visitors who need to be there during limited access, so as not to dip into the health-care workers’ supply of personal protective equipment.
Darlene Kearley, manager of the Helping Hand, said that when Stone first approached her about whether it was OK to take donations for the food bank, she had no idea how much would come to the non-profit — $900 in the first week, and then more than $1,200.
“Isn’t that awesome,” Kearley said of the $2,153 total to date, a massive donation for the food bank, which normally relies heavily on its thrift store profits as a funding source.
The thrift store, of course, has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What Stone’s efforts have contributed is roughly equivalent to a month’s earnings at the thrift store.
“And she’s not finished yet,” Kearley said. “I never thought it would amount to that much, for sure, but the food bank could use it, especially now.”
Kearley said a lot of people in the community have been generous to the food bank in these trying times. Demand at the food bank at the beginning of the pandemic was low — she suspects because of people’s fear. But it has been picking up.
“I’ve got to say, people are really stepping up. It’s wonderful, actually, to see. So far, so good,” Kearley said.