Quilter Makes Hundreds Of Masks For District 22 Police Officers

CHICAGO — A Beverly neighborhood quilter is doing her part in helping protect the beloved heroes that protect the residents of Beverly and neighboring neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. Dorothy Straughter, who didn't pick up quilting under she was in her mid-50's but has since seen her work featured at art galleries throughout the city and suburbs, is in the midst of quilting more than 300 masks to give to the police officers at the 22nd District police station.

"I am nearly a third of the way done," Straughter said Monday, noting that 310 masks will be needed to supply what the officers at the station along 111th Street in the city's Morgan Park neighborhood need.

The masks are black with blue and white stripes, a tribute to the colors of the Chicago Police Department.

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Straughter has been making masks for others for several weeks now, beginning shortly after the spread of the new coronavirus was declared a worldwide pandemic. She began before the Center for Disease Control issued its recommendation to wear masks and well before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker made it a mandate under the revised stay-at-home order issued for May.

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