And with the continued spread of coronavirus, there has been a huge need for protective masks by hospital workers on the frontline against the pandemic.

In response, University Hospitals has developed a prototype for fabric masks that they will now accept at their facilities. The hospital has requested assistance in sewing together these masks from kits the hospital is providing, and boy have the volunteers come out to help.

“I want to do something,” said Brenda Lesko, a Bedford Medical Center volunteer. “I want to help. I just can’t sit around my home while this is going on and do nothing. I heard UH wants 100,000 masks in just a few weeks. I can be part of that!”

Sharon Adams, another volunteer, is the newest version of “Rosie the Riveter” only her nickname is “Sharon the Seamstress.” She has made 60 masks already. An amazing seamstress, she has approached this like an assembly line.

“I want to make as many as I can and quickly; the need is immediate,” says Adams. “So I set everything out, cut, sew and assemble. I was glad to see everything was in the kit. I was thinking I’d have to open paper clips or something for the nose section, but most everything was there. Some kits did not have ribbon, I have some in my own stash to work with. As a seamstress you collect stuff.”

Adams has been taking three kits home at a time, with each kit containing the makings for 10 masks. 

Adams was first approached by the American Sewing Guild to make masks, but when she found out her own hometown hospital, Bedford Medical Center, needed particular masks, she jumped at the chance to keep it local.

“I’m happy to help my town and my hospital in any way I can,” she said. “I’ve read that the CDC said the masks are important for everyone, not just health care, so I copied this prototype, and with my own fabric, made some for my family.”

“Everyone that can, needs to help with this,” she said. “Your mind just can’t comprehend what’s really going on. It’s surreal… But it’s real and we need to come together right now.”

Volunteers who wish to help with work on the kits can call the University Hospitals Management Service Center on Warrensville Center Road at (866) 844-2273. There are 10 mask kits in each set, and everything included in the kits is cut to make.

Click on this link for a mask-making tutorial https://bit.ly/2RcdsCn

The post Local volunteers stitching together protective masks for UH workers first appeared on The Bedford Tribune.

For more information call 440-735-4774

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These are some of the reasons why a veteran visiting a veteran is so important.

“Once a patient finds out I’m a vet, there’s an instant connection, a common
ground, mutual respect. It’s like sitting with a friend shooting the bull. We talk
about armor, what cities we’d been in, different phrases we learned, some things
we’d never talk to others about.”

I met a guy who was in Dou Tieng at the same time I was but we were in different
battalions. We all carried around chocolate bars for the kids.

After sitting with WWII veterans, Lesko says, he truly understand now why WWII veterans are considered the greatest generation.

“These guys don’t want any credit for what they sacrificed for our country,” said
Lesko. “They did what they had to do. They’re very straight-forward, matter-of-fact
kind of guys when it comes to the war, almost without emotion. I’ve come to
really respect them and they don’t hesitate to give that respect back.”

“As time has gone by we (the Vietnam Vets) are becoming proud of our service,” says
Lesko. “More of us are walking in parades. We’re making up for lost time. Me, I’ve got too many aliments to march, but when I find a CJ3 military jeep, I’ll be in a
parade, driving with pride!”

The post Bedford veteran shares experiences with fellow service members first appeared on The Bedford Tribune.