Partner Feature: #MasksNowIllinois
by Emma Davenport
Illinois State Lead, #MasksNow
What were you doing before the Covid-19 pandemic hit? Before the pandemic, I was like any other high school student: taking my classes, rehearsing lines and songs for the lead role in our school’s spring musical, and celebrating my birthday - the day school closed for what would be the rest of the year. I was frustrated, angry, and scared - but I wanted to do something to help, and making masks was something that made sense to me and my family. My brother is developmentally disabled and immuno-compromised, and certainly used to seeing people wear masks from many years going to the doctors! As a family, we began sewing masks. I joined Facebook for the first time to organize data collection for the group.
How did you personally get involved in fighting covid-19 in Illinois? I have always had a knack for organization and data, and this was evidently needed in the group. Eventually, I found myself the admin for an Illinois #MasksNow Facebook Group, and the Illinois State Lead for the national #MasksNow organization shortly thereafter.
What does your organization do? Our organization is a grassroots movement of people who sew and other volunteers who have come together to make masks for frontline healthcare workers and at-risk community members. Our requests in Illinois alone have amounted to 26,000 masks - 3700 of which we have delivered in just three short weeks! As I state lead, I wear many hats (and masks). I coordinate the acquisition and distribution of fabric donations, the collection of masks, communication between requesting facilities and our sewists, and the recruitment of volunteers.
What are some of the barriers you have faced in your work? Right now, the biggest obstacle for #MasksNowIL is sourcing materials: cotton fabric and thread. This is challenging for two reasons. First, most of the stores are closed. Second, funding for this endeavor is coming out of the pockets of volunteers, many of whom face their own financial challenges right now. And of course, we always need more volunteers! Whether a person is an avid sewer or just touching a machine for the first time, we, and everybody in our community, need them. Even if they cannot sew, they can help out by promoting @MasksNowIL on Twitter and Instagram, cutting fabric, doing deliveries, or donating material to our cause. Anyone can email masksnowil@gmail.com for more information on how they can get involved.
What are you most proud of? The journey of each mask involves many hands. From the person or company who donates the fabric and thread to the family that cuts and irons it to the people that sew the masks, make the ties, handle quality control and distribution or simply offer their porch steps as a socially - distant drop of location, this journey of many hands ends in the hands of the people who need them most. It is a complex web of socially distant interactions between people trying to make a difference.
Anything else you want to add? As a family, we are used to being isolated because of my brother’s special needs, but I am happy to say that we are connected with our #MasksNow community in the midst of this global crisis. My brother loves nothing more than to go in the car with my dad to deliver fabric and collect finished masks because he knows that they are going to people that need it. I heard my non-verbal brother say to his ToyStory Sheriff Woody doll the other day “I make masks!”. Enough said.
#MasksNowIllinois Stats to Date (4/27/2020):
Requests Total to Date: 16,882 (12,723 Outstanding)
Filled to Date: 4,159
Delivered in the Past 7 Days: 1,626!!
Fulfillment Rate: 24.64%
Our website: https://masksnow.org