My daughter Courtney and I had been looking for a way to show our thanks and gratitude to front line workers through our small business Stitch Please that makes and sells scrunchies and hair accessories. We saw another business post the Ear Saver Headband, and they were gracious enough to share the pattern with the caveat that they not be sold for profit. We started small and were overwhelmed by the response we received - clearly there was an enormous need to make the lives of our Healthcare workers a little more comfortable. A call for assistance for buttons, fabric and sewers was answered by fellow Rotarians, friends and Instagram followers. 

Enter – Stan Carter, who not only sourced out fabric, buttons and elastic, he even arranged to have the pieces cut out for us – saving countless hours of prep work. All that was left was to distribute the pieces to the other 18 seamstresses and collect them when they were done.
 
Once that was underway, we were challenged to come up with a design for a face mask that didn’t need elastic and would be comfortable for seniors to wear. The pattern was tweaked by Linda Hensman and I until we were comfortable that the design would be practical.

The Helping Hands sewing group from Peace Portal Church agreed to help with this project and took on the task of sewing 100 of them.
 
With the help of many hands, we have distributed over 500 headbands to the community with the bulk of them going to Peach Arch and Surrey Memorial hospitals, and 200 face masks that were distributed to seniors’ homes and to seniors programs through Sources.
 
Headbands (500 MADE)
25 to Eagle Ridge Hospital
250 to Peach Arch Hospital
200 to Surrey Memorial Hospital
25 to Sources

Facemasks (200 MADE)
20 went to Brenda Floyd for her mom’s care home in Kelowna
20 went to Judy H for the seniors in her complex
20 went to Balbir for her distribution to senior neighbours
100 sewn by Good Hands sewing group at Peach Portal Church – went to Sources Seniors programs
40 to Rotarians