Montevideo Mask Force

07/28/2021

The covid quilt can be seen at the Chippewa Co. fair.

06/15/2021

The Covid 19 quilt is now on display at the Montevideo Community Center. Stop down to take a look.

08/04/2020

The Covid quilt is finished. I will turn it over to the hospital soon. I have written the following to go along with the quilt. Although many people hate the idea of wearing the mask, we filled a great need for them when asked. Thanks to all who helped. --------------------------------------------------------------------------MONTEVIDEO MASK FORCE
2020
COVID-19 PANDEMIC

This quilt tells the story of how many women in the Montevideo area went to war to defend their community against the Covid-19 virus.

On March 23, 2020, a group called the Montevideo Mask Force was formed. Our purpose was to sew masks for healthcare workers at our local hospital and nursing home facilities in Montevideo. I asked for donations of fabric and elastic. People dug in their closets and drawers for unused fabric and elastic and others bought new fabric and elastic for us.

I looked for people that would cut the fabric for the sewers and many stepped forward. As fabric was donated I would let a cutter know it was available. When the cutters returned the fabric ready to sew, I would let the seamstresses know. All of the exchanges were made in a red tub on my front steps. We made masks by the hundreds.

Just when we thought we had enough for our healthcare workers, it was recommended that everyone should be wearing a mask. We continued cutting and sewing and donating hundreds more to businesses and the school.

We learned that people over the age of 65 had a higher risk of becoming a victim of the Covid-19 virus. We sewed masks by the hundreds to give to the elderly living in apartment buildings. We gave hundreds more to people providing services for the elderly – Meals on Wheels, Prairie Five Rides and Family Services. We gave to the police department and hundreds went to our Fire Hall during the Minnesota Mask Drive.

As businesses were allowed to open up, they were required to have masks on hand for their employees and clients. We sewed hundreds more. We sewed as long as there was a need. In less than one month, 4,000 masks were made by the volunteers of the Montevideo Mask Force.

This quilt has been made with fabric scraps left over from the mask making and represents how the Montevideo Mask Force and our community worked together during this monumental time in our lives.

Arlene Kranz

07/17/2020

Mary Sellner has finished putting the Covid Quilt together. Now it will go to Lois Gustafson for quilting. Good job Mary fitting all of those different sized squares together. Looks awesome.

06/17/2020

I have received a request for more masks from Countryside Public health. I have enough of our regular masks on hand for them. I do not have any childrens or larger masks with string ties to fit a fuller face. Is there anyone in our group that can make these special sized masks. Please and Thank you.

06/03/2020

Here is an updated photo of our quilt. New squares have been added by Barb Huntley, Bonita Seeman, Meredith Brown, Robin Schweagerl, Judy Winge and Dianna Johnson. If any of you still plan on adding a square or two, it’s time to turn them in.
This week I gave 30 masks to the Chippewa County courthouse. Stay safe.

05/22/2020

It is getting bigger thanks to Kathy Leindecker and Linda Paulson. They are beautiful. You are very talented.

05/20/2020

Look at what has been turned in for our Quilt. I love it. Thanks Arlene Banken and Gayle Jensen.

05/19/2020

Here are a few squares I have come up with. I have lots of scraps at my house if you need. When you have finished your squares, drop them in the red tub at 1311 N 4th please. You can make more than one 8” square.

05/17/2020

One of our dedicated sewers (Mary Sellner) has a great idea. She would like scraps sewed into 8" squares of left over fabric from your mask making.

She would sew them together to make a crazy quilt that could perhaps be displayed at the hospital. Then it could be given to the Historical Society as a representation of what we did during this period of time in Montevideo. It could be called the "plague quilt"

I have kept the names of everyone who has helped with this project. I could write a few paragraphs about how this came about and who the masks went to etc. I would put everyone's name on this.

05/15/2020

I hope you all are enjoying this nice weather we have. I finished planting my garden today.. I have been handing out a lot of masks to senior citizens..They found out where they can get them. This last week was busy again. Many businesses are preparing to open up and must have masks to do it. Today I gave out 100 masks to the drivers education instructor.. All of the students must wear masks for behind the wheel training. So glad we could help them out.

I still have about 100 masks on hand..A lot of masks were turned in to me after I took what we had to the fire station. When we get down to 25, we will think about starting up again. All for now. Stay safe. This virus isn't going anywhere soon.

05/05/2020

Here is a thank you from Prairie Five rides. It is written by Ted Nelson.

04/30/2020

We received a thank you from Copper Glen.

04/25/2020

We have had a busy week. On Wednesday a few of us held a drive through mask give away for Senior Citizens. We only advertised on Channel 180 and sent emails to Senior Citizen members. We gave away 82 masks at the drive through. We gave masks to the people in the Burnsdale apt complex. We donated masks to the Clara City nursing home. Parkview Tower contacted me, telling me they needed 36 more. We have given to many senior citizens this week. I have had several calls in the last 2 days. We have also given masks to a couple of businesses that are preparing to open in the near future and need them for their staff.

449 masks have been turned into me this week. This brings our grand total to 2,620 masks. The sewers and cutters are taking a bit of a break. We will see what happens with this virus. We can always start up again. We have a good team.

04/24/2020

04/24/2020

Very fitting for this group.

04/20/2020

I need to tell you a few things today. Let's start with how many masks were turned in this week. Would you believe 611??

We have given masks to the school for their daycare program. We have given to the elderly at The Cottages. We have given to Prairie 5 ride program and Meals on wheels. We have given to the residents of Parkview Tower.

This week I would like to focus on getting masks to more of our senior citizens. We still have Burnsville apts and Paulson Park. There may be more.

I did some more research about Gov. Walz's mask drive. This will be a one time event. On April 25th between 10am and 2pm, you can drop off masks. They will deliver them to local congregate living facilities for staff and residents. They will not hand out to individuals. So, don't go to the fire hall to pick up a mask.

Have a good week and stay safe.