April 16, 2020 – Lower Pottsgrove, PA: With Governor Wolf’s mandate to stay at home, many people are looking for things to do. The senior residents of Sanatoga Ridge and Buchert Ridge Communities found a way to keep busy and do good. Approximately a dozen men and women from the two communities are making masks for Pottstown Hospital, the Collegeville food pantry volunteers, area churches, and friends and neighbors.
The masks are colorful and cheery, according to Sharon Steinmetz, Director of Volunteer Services for Pottstown Hospital. While not hospital grade, “employees are wearing them over their hospital masks to brighten things up,” said Steinmetz. “The hospital is so appreciative,” she added.
Joyce Leary, a member of Sanatoga Ridge’s sewing club made a mask with daisies on it “for my niece who is an emergency room nurse.”
While the sewers still have fabric, most of them have run out of 3/8” elastic. One is now experimenting with ribbons.
“If people want to sew their own masks, there are hundreds of patterns on the Internet,” said Carol Reckard from Buchert Ridge.