As we fight the coronavirus pandemic as a community, if you aren’t a front-line worker in the heat of the battle, the next best thing is to bring help to the helpers.
Hailey Baker is a 9-year-old with a heart to helpers. After all, she is a Girl Scout in Troop 1546.
Along with her family, mom Lynette and sister Sydney, the Bakers have made nearly 100 face masks over the course of the month. It started by making a few for her uncle, who drives a delivery truck and is an essential worker, and once the Baker’s assembly line method of making the masks was down pat, continued to make them, and this week delivered a second batch to Osceola Regional Medical Center and the Osceola County Health Department.
Since she’s been home pretty much quarantined, Hailey, an International Baccalaureate student at Thacker Avenue Elementary, said she watched online videos on how to make them, then has been working between online classes. Hailey and her mom and sister have been an assembly line
“I want to protect my family from the coronavirus. We have a family friend who works at the health department who wanted a mask to stay safe.
They feature a pocket with a filter for extra protection. The fabric came from local stores, but the elastic, a tough commodity to find in bulk right now, came from her grandmother, who sews herself but hasn’t been able to to for health reasons.
MaryAnn Matthews, a pediatrics and NICU nursing lead at ORMC, said the hospital isn’t running out now, but is happy to have new masks in some fun patterns, like Harry Potter.
“We’re not running out right now, but we don’t know how long we’ll be doing this at the rate we are. It’s a great gesture as a reward our care givers,” she said. “We were hospital masks every day and we’re well protected, but to have some fun to wear out at the grocery store to keep everyone safe as a barrier, it’s amazing.”
Hailey’s mom Lynette is a teacher at Thacker Avenue, and has been gladly pitching in.
“She’s been working with online school, then in her free time trying to make a difference, so I’m so super proud.” she said.
And they’ll keep making them over the summer, Hailey figures.
“I’ll give them to whoever needs them,” she said.
