Starting with a Facebook post, ESL teacher Penny Ramos, has been creating and donating masks and scrub caps to places in need since the stay at home order has been put into effect.
“Everyone was tagging me in these hospital requests to make masks,” Ramos said “I have a lot of fabric so I started making them and would post them on Facebook.”
Before the pandemic, Ramos made quilts, and with her expertise in sewing, she knew she could give it a good try to make the scrubs and masks. Soon people from Southlake, Baylor, Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City were starting to contact her for donations.
“I have a lot of friends in the medical field, but I don’t know exactly where they all work,” Ramos said. “It just keeps trickling out from there.”
On a weekly average, Ramos makes around 100 masks usually taking 20 mins. Being at this non-stop, she has a friend in the neighborhood that helps her iron and cut the fabric needed to sew. Ever since the recent statement made from the CDC regarding wearing masks, the supplies for creating them (fabric, elastics, etc) have run out. However, Ramos found a new pattern to use to create her masks, but doing so has upped the time to 45 mins.
“If I’m spending all this time on one mask, than I’m not able to make as many,” Ramos said. “So I searched for other patterns that would help me get through faster, but still in good quality.”
Ramos has made hundreds of masks and scrubs for nurses, friends, family, and some for her foreign exchange students. While she is not selling them, many have donated money to her so she can buy more of the supplies she needs.
“Most people donate $5 to $10 so it always helps,” Ramos said. “But for medical workers, I don’t take any money. I’m like, ‘no way, you take it because we’re doing this for you.'”
While the process can be time consuming, it keeps her busy and she believes everything will work out in the end.