The guest speaker at our January 20, 2021 meeting was Melinda Wegener, who has been working with her husband Gary to combat the Covid-19 pandemic by sewing masks. Their efforts have been targeted towards serving the underserved areas of our country, particularly the homeless, migrant workers and Native Americans.
Through their joint efforts, they have produced over 8,000 masks since they began. That amounts to about 700 yards of fabric and miles of thread. In an effort to keep costs down and keep up their production rates, they located wholesale distributors and raised money through fundraising. Additional funds have been raised with the assistance of Morgan Outdoors, which is selling some of the masks to support the initiative.
This past summer they joined forces with a group called Auntie Sewing Squad which provides them with the connections to reach those that need the masks and assists in shipping costs. (Auntiesewingsquad.com)
Liberty Rotary Club thanks Melinda for her inspiring presentation and their Herculean efforts to reduce the spread of this pandemic. As Melinda stated, “Their health is our health. We’re never going to get through this pandemic if we don’t take care of everyone”.
