#ColumbiaMakesMasks

#ColumbiaMakesMasks was started after hospitals around the country called out for reusable fabric face masks in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. Due to the massive shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) healthcare workers were being forced to reuse disposable face masks. For some, they were being forced to wear the same mask for up to a week. According to the CDC, fabric face masks can be worn on top of PPE approved masks to prolong their usable life. Maria Varela, student founder of the mission, worked alongside three other Columbia College Chicago professors, Julie Fehler, Justin LeBlanc, and Lauren Downing Peters. Together, they reached out to the Fashion Studies department and offered to build and send mask kits to students who wanted to help. They set a goal of 1,000 masks, and reached out to students through email and social media.

This mission started around March 20th, by March 24th they called out to the Columbia community for help in making 1000 masks. Two days later they had the manpower to sew 1,450 masks, and by March 29th they had enough to make over 2,000. Once enough students signed up to make 2,000, they closed down registration so that they could wait for fabric orders and assemble the kits. By April 14th, 71 kits were sent out to students, and another round of kits was sent out a couple weeks after that. Maria, her fellow professors, and everyone who signed up have helped donate makes to hospitals, nursing homes, at risk groups, and just about anyone who needed them. Maria herself made over 1,100 throughout the first few months of the Coronavirus Pandemic.