People helping people during Covid-19

PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE DURING COVID 19 ~By Lois Vuolo

A special tribute goes out to my Special Hometown Hero, Brigitta Mullican. I inspired her to sew masks when I heard that wearing masks would eventually become mandatory when visiting pharmacies, grocery stores, and other essential places. Ideas started and she launched into the initial start of sewing washable masks.

To begin this adventure, Brigitta knew she had to publicize her masks. With the assistance of technology, she began posting pictures on Facebook and Nextdoor, a social neighborhood network. Within a short period of time, mask requests from neighbors, friends, and families began. Knowing Brigitta had a limited supply of fabric and elastic, her next step was to ask for donations. The responses were overwhelming. People began donating assortments of fabric such as cats, hearts, Washington Nationals, Harley Davidson, Pittsburg Steelers, to name a few. Additionally, ties, elastic pipe cleaners, thread, florist wire, and sewing machine needles were added to the collection. This was amazing. In fact, Brigitta did not have to purchase one item for mask making. The donators were so willing to help out in this adventure.

Throughout the shutdown period, Brigitta has sewn over seven hundred washable masks. As they were made, one hundred, ninety-five were donated to restaurant employees, post office clerks, letter carriers, organizations such as Meals on Wheels, Mocomaskmakers for Walter Reed Hospital, her Twinbrook Cricket Store agent, and not to forget family, friends, and neighbors locally. Mailings were sent to a number of states: Arizona, Florida, New York, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, to name a few.

To help with this incredible number of over seven hundred, I made frequent visits, cutting patterns to provide assistance because the demand was so significant. But then, an unbelievable event took place. Brigitta’s 1969 Kenmore sewing machine broke, and she panicked because of the high demand of requests. Knowing her machine could not be repaired, she phoned a friend, Kathy Raines, and asked to borrow her machine. Immediately, Kathy came to the rescue. What a relief! Brigitta could now continue sewing and meet the demand of requests. Time for sewing was never a problem since Brigitta was willing to sew until one and two in the morning. In fact, one neighbor wanted twenty-four masks, so she could give them to others who had no idea where masks could be gotten.

As time progressed, Brigitta suggested $10.00 per mask to be donated to one of her three charitable county organizations: Gabriel Project, Manna Food, and Meals on Wheels. Several donators gave more than $10.00 a mask. The enthusiasm has been unbelievable. All of this has made Brigitta very proud of her work.

Seniors wonder what they can do during these unbelievable times. In fact, through Brigitta’s inspiration, I realized I needed to get involved in dealing with the boredom of the coronavirus crisis. As a result, I am helping Montgomery County Public School System with the distribution food to needy families.

As people go throughout each day, necessary services, such as mask making, become very significant. This is also a time when neighbors in many communities are helping others just like Brigitta Mullican, who continues to sew as long as there is a demand.

Assisting Brigitta with mask making during this coronavirus shutdown has been very rewarding to me. As seniors she and I have contributed to our community in ways we never dreamed.