Rush University Employee Making Coronavirus Masks For Community

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Local Rush University employee Jennifer Comerford recently took up a new project: making coronavirus masks for Romeoville residents and others who may need them. Comerford works as a manager of continuing education at Rush, and said that this is the first time she's ever tried her hand at sewing. The nature of the ongoing pandemic, she said, is what motivated her to pick up the thread and needle.

"Just with the pandemic going on, I wanted to do something to help out," Comerford said, "so I literally went out and bought a sewing machine and my mom came over and showed me how to sew masks."

Since she began, Comeford and her mother have made more than a hundred masks together. Some they sent to the Evergreen Senior Living facility in Orland Park, where Comerford's father is a resident, and some they gave to local Valley View School District families.

"I sent some over to some of the schools in the area... when [Valley View families] were picking up the laptops, so they would have them," Comerford said.

The masks are made of a heavy type of cotton, and include a pocket for inserting a filter. Comerford said she is using interfacing, a type of stiff fabric, for her filters, though she added that she does not know what type of material is scientifically shown to help protect users from coronavirus. In these uncertain times, she said she's heard of people trying just about everything.

"I've also heard people using things like dry baby wipes or paper towel or a coffee filter," Comerford said.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, cotton t-shirt fabric and coffee filters are all acceptable mask materials for general use, though they are not replacements for professional surgical masks or N-95 respirators. Those, the CDC stated, should be reserved for medical workers who need them the most.

Comerford's masks, for those that would like one, are still available. Comerford said they have become a major project for her and her mother in their off time, and that she is happy to help out the local community where she can. Those wishing to order a mask from Comerford can reach her at jencomerford@gmail.com.

She is asking for a suggested donation of $5 per mask to help her cover the cost of purchased materials, but stressed that the masks are "definitely not a business."

"I'm asking $5 just so I can buy more materials; or even a donation of elastic or thread... [payment] is not required by any means," she said.

Those who would like to learn how to make their own masks can also find a helpful tutorial on the CDC website.

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