Southern Utah DAR chapters join national effort to sew thousands of protective masks

Protective masks made by members of the Color Country Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Valerie King, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Two Southern Utah chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution have joined in the efforts of the national organization, sewing protective masks for those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of the Bald Eagle Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution make protective masks to donate to the Canyon Creek Crisis Center and Cedar Health and Rehabilitation, Cedar City, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Valerie King, St. George News

Part of the National Service to America Project from Home, led by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, members of the service organization across the country have been firing up their sewing machines in an effort to provide protective masks for medical workers, first responders, crisis centers, assisted living facilities and more.

“Hospitals and medical facilities in a number of states are seeking volunteers to sew and donate homemade masks to conserve the limited numbers of medical-grade masks for the riskiest patient care. Ladies, let’s help,” a post on the DAR Service to America Facebook page said.

The Bald Eagle Chapter and the Color Country Chapter in Southern Utah answered the service call, making and distributing masks for the Canyon Creek Crisis Center and Cedar Health and Rehabilitation in Cedar City, the Dixie Pediatrics and the St. George Fire Department in St. George, and the Southern Utah Veterans Home in Ivins.

Bald Eagle Chapter Regent Sandy Ball said their chapter’s service to the community is sewing because that is what they are good at and what they like to do.

The Bald Eagle Chapter is a small chapter encompassing a large geographical area with members in Cedar City, Enoch and as far as Escalante, Ball said.

Though their membership is small, they were able to make masks for the Canyon Creek Crisis Center and Cedar Health and Rehabilitation and hope to continue their efforts.

DAR Color Country Chapter Regent, Valerie King wears a homemade protective mask, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Valerie Kings, St. George News

For Ball, the project provides an opportunity to serve her community and country.

“I’m very patriotic,” Ball said, adding that her mother was a nurse and she wants to serve those who served her.

As Color Country Chapter member Patricia Moseman began to recognize that there would soon be a need for people to have nonmedical-grade protective masks, she immediately thought of the children, she said.

Moseman spearheaded the Color Country Chapter’s efforts, inviting members of the organization to help make masks for Dixie Pediatrics for patients to wear while waiting for their appointment.

The group sewed around 100 masks for the clinic, she said.

Moseman added that the center liked the masks so much they said they could be used beyond the current pandemic, so the efforts will likely continue into the future.

Like Ball, Moseman said she is very patriotic and holds a soft spot in her heart for veterans. So when they received word that the Southern Utah Veterans Home could use masks, they got to work again, this time with help from nearby neighbors and chapters across the nation.

Color Country Chapter Regent Valerie King said the Southern Utah Veterans Home came to them with an urgent need for around 200 protective face masks, so she sent out a call for help on the DAR Service to America Facebook page asking if any of the chapters could help fulfill the need.

Members of the John Alden Chapter in Michigan offered to send 50 masks to help with the efforts, King said.

“This act of kindness in response truly shows our organization’s service heart and soul,” she said. “It just warms my heart beyond measure.”

Tubs of baked goods made by members and friends of the Color Country Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Valerie King, St. George News

Closer to home, members of the organization recruited their neighbors and friends for the effort, many cleaning out their craft supply closets to find quilting scraps and elastic, a much-needed material for the effort, Moseman said.

Chapter members and friends who can’t sew have helped the project by cutting material and making deliveries of fabric and supplies, Moseman said.

“It’s amazing the numbers we are putting out,” Moseman said of the collective effort.

In Utah, Daughters of the American Revolution members have sewn over 500 masks, adding to the nationwide numbers in the tens of thousands and growing daily, King said.

In addition to the sewing project, Color Country Chapter members have begun baking cookies, brownies, muffins and breads to share with Switchpoint Community Resource Center.

King said that the needs of the homeless resource center and shelter are so great at the moment, and the chapter hopes to continue their baking crusade.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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