Two members of the Munroe-Meyer Guild have been making cloth masks for use in their community and at the Munroe-Meyer Institute.
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MMI Community Engagement Director Melonie Welsh contacted Guild President Luann Rabe to ask if Guild members would be able to make masks. Rabe and Guild member Barb Switzer, both of whom have family members who have received services at MMI, went to work. Together, they’ve sewn more than 60 masks so far, with about 20 going to MMI.
“I made them for a cancer patient from church, our pastor who does hospice visits and for MMI,” Rabe said. “I plan on making more for MMI.”
Rabe got the materials from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, which is giving away materials for masks and gowns. So far, she has been able to make 15 masks.
“I’ve been sewing since I was 7,” Rabe said. “I was in 4-H — I can make a wool coat, and I used to make dance costumes for my husband and myself.”
Rabe said she was happy to be able to help MMI and other people using her sewing skills.
“It’s a nice and easy way to give back,” she said. “Of course, we have time, we’re at home now. It helps you feel like you’re being productive during this down time.
Switzer already had been making masks for people and church when she received Welsh’s request, and she has made more than a dozen for MMI since.
A recently retired UNMC research technologist, Switzer also has been sewing from a young age.
“When I was in junior high, it was required that the girls take sewing,” said Switzer, who worked in the research lab of College of Medicine Dean Bradley Britigan, M.D., for more than three decades. “Usually, I do mostly Halloween costumes.”
Both said they were pleased to help MMI providers with masks.
“We have a lot of friends there,” Switzer said.