Mask Ministry during COVID-19

Parishioners at St. Thomas Aquinas are fighting the coronavirus pandemic one stitch at a time. Dianna Malta is one of several in our community who have been making cloth masks. She first saw the need for the masks on a social media post from the wife of the doctor who is in charge of the ICU Unit at WellStar North Fulton Hospital. Hospital employees have been in desperate need of cloth masks to wear over their N95 Masks. The N95 Masks are considered disposable but health professionals are reusing them because they are unable to get more. The cloth masks provide added protection. Soon after Dianna read that post, she did some research, created her own pattern and went to work.

Dianna and another parishioner, Joellen O’Neil, became part of a group who call themselves “The North Fulton Masketeers.” This group, now with almost fifty members, has made hundreds of cloth masks for the hospital’s employees. They are one of several Atlanta area sewing groups that have formed to create thousands of masks for employees of Grady Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, and the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, among others.

The Masketeers have created two different types of masks, an N95 Mask cover for healthcare workers and a pleated mask (which resembles a surgical mask) for the general population. Each mask requires fabric that is 100% cotton, as well as elastic or some kind of tie. The N95 Mask also requires a wire that helps it to rest on one’s nose. The fabric for every mask is washed before being sewn and then again before the first use. It takes an estimated 30 minutes to make a mask from start to finish.

When the North Fulton Masketeers fulfilled the request for WellStar North Fulton Hospital, they began making masks for the Military Police Corps at Dobbins Air Force Base, for the Milton Fire Department, for senior care facilities and for children with autoimmune diseases. Some members of the group have even been giving masks to neighborhood grocery store workers.

While many in the group sew the masks, others donate fabric, ties, Ziploc bags and other notions. Still others drop off and pick up donations and completed masks.

Always eager to help, Dianna said, “I started to think that there must be people at St. Thomas Aquinas who need to be in public and who need masks.” So the group’s next step is to make masks for family and friends and that prompted her to consider her parish family.

Up to 25% of those infected with the coronavirus may be asymptomatic, which is why the Centers for Disease Control recommends that everyone wear a mask when going to public places.

If you would like to participate in a ministry to make masks, if you need a mask, or if you would like more information, please send an email to stareply@sta.org

We thank Dianna, Joellen and the numerous other “Masketeers” who have generously offered their time and talents for those who have needed it the most.