Natalie Sopinsky

There’s a woman on our yishuv who makes clothes. I saw her wearing a homemade mask way back early in the corona crisis. I reached out to this dressmaker and asked her if she was making masks. Originally she said no, but agreed to make them for my family of seven for NIS 10 each.

We aren’t what you would call friends, but I know she is talented. I got NIS 70 and ran to her house as soon as they were ready. I was very proud of myself for being so pushy. I make videos for Rescuers Without Borders and the masks are so beautiful I’ve worn them at the beginning of each video. The mask is dramatic.

As an artist, my way is to make something and help my family feel productive in making a change in the world. I put my work projects aside (no printers or framers are open anyway). I told my kids to stop with the multiplication tables, reading comprehension questions and Zoom lessons.

Our country has a shortage of masks. We learned about the materials a mask needs in order to be safe. We researched the differences between a hospital worker mask and what is suitable enough for a regular civilian. We asked for donations of old sheets and elastic (in 5 minutes we had what we needed!), cut fabric, sewed, ironed, snipped threads. We became a mask factory.

Most of our early masks were claimed by friends and neighbors. We asked for a

NIS 5 donation per mask that will be donated toward an amazing initiative to bring N95 masks to hospitals in Israel. We have made about 200 masks so far. It was a family endeavor. Then my sewing machine broke, so we are on a break now.