Chatham Residents Respond To '1,000-Masks Challenge'

Chatham, NJ—In March, after the Chatham Library was forced to close as the Coronavirus tore through the area, Karen Brodsky, its director, had an idea. In the news, stories of doctors, nurses, and essential workers lacking masks were everywhere, and the shortage had extended to the public.

So Brodsky and Susan Hoag, president of the Friends of Library of the Chathams, started gathering material to make masks. Since the shortage was severe, they thought big. The "1,000 Masks Challenge" was born.

“We began calling on the public for help,” Hoag said, “and made mask kits to distribute to our cutting and sewing volunteers.”

The kits consisted of a yard of flannel for inside the mask, woven cotton for the outside layer, elastic, thread, and an instruction sheet, all inside a library tote bag. Each kit contained enough material for 24 adult masks.

“People just kept calling to volunteer,” said Hoag, who added that there were eventually 120 people making masks. “People really wanted to do something to help, and many got out their old sewing machines and went to work.”

Township resident Peggy Melvin and the Quon family of Chatham Borough each made 500 masks. Several others, like Elizabeth Stewart (226 masks), Alexander Falcone (208), and Marla Osinski (170) helped ensure the goal was quickly surpassed.

Three weeks ago, the sewing finished with a total of nearly 6,000 masks, which were sanitized by the first aid squad and distributed. The remaining 1,900 masks were donated to the library for the public.

Hoag said the credit goes to the Friends membership, the library employees, and local residents for the idea's success. She admitted that there was an unexpected benefit to working on the project.

"I met some of the most wonderful people in town, people I never would have met before,” Hoag said. “This was the most heartwarming, wonderful experience, and the Friends were happy to be able to help."