Sewing for safety

It all started with a simple request on Facebook from fifth grade teacher Jill Walker.
“I wanted to make sure that all my kids would be able to have more than one mask, especially since we will be at the school five days a week,” Walker explained. “From there, it kind of took on a life of its own.”
“A parent of two of my former students tagged Terri Reuvers on the post and she contacted me asking if her prayer group could make them for my class,” Walker said. “Shortly after that, she contacted me again and asked if they could make them for the entire school and I was overwhelmed!”
Reuvers’ prayer group has been sewing masks for months and providing it to local organizations and residents in the area. After hearing the school’s need for masks, Reuvers and Walker quickly organized the sew-a-thon, held last Saturday in Straight River Park in Medford.
“I’m a founder of a face mask group called Prayer Mask Makers,” Reuvers explained. “I started that group because in March I ended up having COVID myself and so I knew that I could either be worried about COVID or I could do something.”
The masks made by Reuvers’ group carry their own signature: a small heart emblem on the inside. “Our group has sewn about 7,000 masks that have ben donated to places such as a children’s hospital, Park Nicollet, and first responders.”
“That small group of a few people is now 120 people,” she said proudly. “It’s been really neat and we’ve been able to meet people that otherwise would not have known.” Reuvers’ group gets PPE materials from a company in Georgia that previously manufactured tents.
Together with a host of volunteers and others who stopped by to drop off masks, Reuvers and her fellow sewers were able to provide 600 masks for the students of Medford School. “I have a grandson who goes to Medford school and I’d want him to be protected,” Reuvers said.
“So, it started as, why don’t we do it for the whole fifth grade, then why don’t we do it for the whole school, and then why don’t we hold a sew-a-thon,” she said. “So here we are!” Reuvers’ group had previously held a sew-a-thon in Faribault to donate masks to the local Somali community as a show of solidarity in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
The sew-a-thon began around 10 a.m. and lasted until late afternoon. “I’m just really impressed by the amount of community members who have come to pitch in,” Reuvers said. “We had the elementary school principal here and he made a few stitches.”
One of those who dropped off masks was Medford Mayor Lois Nelson. “Thanks to all the organizing efforts, the talented sewers and goal of keeping our students safe in this whole new learning environment,” she said. “All the best for a great school year!”
“I am so grateful for people like Terri, and the parents of students I’ve taught in previous years,” Walker said. “It truly is a team effort and it’s amazing what can happen when we all pitch in just a little bit. There still is a lot of good in the world!”