Erika Pike, a Relief Society sister in Avon, Indiana, is using her seamstress skills to sew masks for frontline health workers and first responders in Indiana.
Pike started the group Sew and Serve Indy, which has donated nearly 90,000 masks and surgical caps to several Indiana health care workers to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“I thought I knew 50 people who sewed,” Pike said during a local newscast. “And maybe we could make a thousand masks. That’s what I thought. ‘We could make a thousand masks. Wouldn’t that be so great?’ and look at us now.”
Sew and Serve Indy started as a small group on March 22, 2020, but now has nearly 6,000 volunteers throughout Indiana. The group has donated to more than 500 facilities in need of supplies.
About 100,000 masks have been requested in 15 counties in Indiana.
Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb recognized Sew and Serve Indy during a local broadcast and thanked the group for helping the community combat the virus.
“They are in the game,” said Governor Holcomb. “They are playing an MVP role.”
During an interview on a local radio station, Pike said Sew and Serve Indy was formed when a hospital in Evansville, Indiana, asked the public to sew face masks. Pike reached out to friends in her community and started the Facebook group.
Several women supported Pike and helped her to administer and coordinate the online group. Sew and Serve Indy started receiving several requests from health care facilities the same day the group started.
Pike said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-approved masks are made of 100% cotton and that the materials are burn-tested before they are stitched together.
Volunteers who do not sew are contributing by purchasing and donating supplies, such as fabric and elastic.
“People are donating. They’re called to this action,” Pike said during a local newscast. “They want to help, and it’s been really amazing.”