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SAVING LIVES

ONE MASK AT A TIME

n times of stress, Meloney Quady
Iturns to creating, so when Covid-19
changed our lives last March, she started
sewing. She signed on to Providence
Seattle’s 1 Million Mask Challenge. First
efforts were for healthcare professionals,
then to anyone when it became apparent
everyone needed a mask. “I have been
sewing day and night, nearly every day
since.” She also connected with other
sewists, suppliers, or people in need, as
well as teaching some who were willing, but lacked the know-how. In
April, she initiated a Pay It Forward campaign through her Etsy shop.
Customers received a free mask (they paid the Etsy selling fee and
shipping) and agreed to pay it forward with a significant kindness to
another who is not an immediate family member or friend.

She also joined an online group, The Auntie Sewing Squad, making
masks for the vulnerable, including First Nation tribes, migrant farm
workers, asylum seekers along the Texas and California borders, the
NAACP, homeless organizations across the country. The Auntie Sewing
Squad has donated over 70,000 masks to date, and have received
national media attention.
To date, Meloney has sewn and donated well over 2,000 masks—with
some help from her husband, children, her mom, and a cousin, but
mostly by her own efforts.

www.facebook.com/auntiesewing

fall 2020 | www.southernoregonmagazine.com 27