Two California teenagers wanted to find a way to help during the coronavirus pandemic, so they decided to do so “One Mask At a Time,” by making masks themselves and sending them around the country for free.
Sisters Christyannah, 15, and Kiera, 13, used the values of service and better living they learned in 4-H to begin sewing masks for friends and family.
“It (4-H) taught us to give back and we can use our minds a lot more, we can be creative and we don’t always have to help just our families and 4-H families, we can help our community, we can help our club and we can also help our world,” Christyannah said.
Christyannah, who is a county ambassador for Tuolumne County 4-H, already knew how to sew so she taught her younger sister, 13-year-old Kiera, a couple basic stitches so she could help. Kiera is also a Tuolumne County 4-H member and wanted to take a more active leadership role.
“I just wanted to make masks for my family because of COVID-19, we wanted to stay safe,” Kiera said.
Christyannah had learned to sew through a previous 4-H project, which made teaching her sister easier, she said.
The project officially started on April 1 and they started their Facebook page One Mask at a Time on April 8 once they began receiving more donations. What started as a way to help family and friends has quickly turned into something much greater.
As of Sunday morning, the girls had made more than 1,500 masks, 1,300 of which had been shipped around the country to 18 states, including some as far away as New York and Florida.
The girls actively update the Facebook page and it includes everything from people wearing their masks, to pictures of donations they’ve received and even a tutorial on how to properly wear a mask after the girls saw people around town not securing them properly.
All of the materials and shipping costs are covered through donations, which the girls have set up a Paypal account for, and all of the donations go right back into the project so the pair can make more masks.
And like the masks, the donations have come from all over too. Last week, the girls shared a picture of them with donations that had been shipped to them from North Dakota and Oregon.
When the process started, Christyannah and Kiera were able to sew about 100 masks in 3 or 4 hours but they have rapidly improved their pace, now each girl can make 50 in an hour and they are producing around 150 each day.
“We just want to get out that a lot of kids can help too,” Kiera said. “If you have a sewing machine...you can help get involved.”
