Milton Students Support Their Communities By Making Masks

By SNEHA JAISWAL ‘22

By early February—just weeks after the first confirmed case in the US—protective face masks had already sold out. Hoarding had begun in late January, according to the New York Times, with pharmacy supplies dwindling rapidly and Amazon deliveries delayed by weeks. The panic-buying left the doctors and nurses that treated COVID-19 patients with fewer resources. In the wake of hoarding and new CDC guidelines recommending masks in public, many people began making and distributing masks from home—including Milton students. From patching together spare fabric at home to manufacturing at an industrial level, these students have found ways to help their communities during quarantine.

While the CDC recommends wearing cloth masks—as well as social distancing—when in public, surgical masks and N-95 respirators should be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders. So, the CDC released guidelines on sewing face coverings with only a sewing machine and cotton fabric, for both personal use and donations to clinics, many of which can only accept masks that meet these guidelines. Over spring break, Celia Hoffman ‘20 decided to sew masks without leaving her home or exposing herself and her family; she continued to make and donate even when classes resumed. Celia had some prior experience with sewing clothes, as well as a sewing machine already at home, so she found the CDC’s recommended pattern easy to follow. She also mentioned that sewing masks helped her upcycle lots of unused fabric from previous projects and clear out old cotton pillows and clothes in her house. Most guidelines recommend using thick, pure cotton fabric for homemade masks with maximum possible protection; quilt cotton and most bedsheets meet these requirements. Hoffman found that she would often set aside a whole day for sewing masks between week-long breaks to keep up with other commitments. But even without a strict schedule, she alone has made around fifty to sixty masks since spring break. They go to her local hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which accepts donations through a drop box. Hoffman said she hopes to keep sewing cloth masks even after quarantine ends, until either donations are not needed or she runs out of materials.

Another Milton student took a more industrial approach in helping their community. In Hong Kong, when protective face masks suddenly became a hot commodity, Kirsten Ting ‘22 and her grandmother started a small business for mass-manufacturing masks. Currently in its trial period, their business encompasses production, packaging, and distribution. In a government approved clean room, a small workforce runs machinery to mass-produce surgical masks, certified by the ASTM International for use in clinics. Ting currently spends six hours, or one working day, per week doing administrative jobs, but she plans to spend three to four days per week with the company once the school year ends. She said her role includes “anything [her] grandmother needs her to do,” from sourcing materials to managing branding and outreach. 

So far, this small business has already donated masks to Milton and distributed them to charities. Mass producing and packaging has allowed it to distribute to a larger population, but the business also must meet standard criteria in order to reach the market. Additionally, Ting’s salary currently goes to buying masks from their facility to donate. In sorting masks mass-produced by a machine, those that aren’t aesthetically perfect but still effective can also be donated. Ting stated that her grandmother’s business plans to sell masks in the long term and will, in the future, continue charity work beyond the COVID-19 crisis. 

Milton students that are making masks while under lockdown help their communities in a vast variety of ways. While some methods are more unexpected than others—such as starting an industrial business from home to increase supply of masks—the ultimate goal of helping others remains constant. Even if you can’t manufacture at a large scale like Ting, you can still support your community with any act of assistance, through Milton’s community engagement, another organization, or your own willpower.