Brookfield Hometown Hero Is Tireless Helper

BROOKFIELD, WI — When times are tough, heroes emerge. We all know someone who's making a difference right now as we live through unprecedented times. Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize these everyday heroes.

This submission comes from Diane Bernards Hayden who nominated her sister Linda Bernards Idzikowski for her tireless work helping others during the coronavius pandemic.

Where the nominee lives:
Brookfield

Name of the nominee:
Linda Bernards Idzikowski

Name of the person who nominated the hero:
Diane Bernards Hayden

Is the nominee considered an “essential worker”?:
No

What does the nominee do for work?:

My sister is a retired teacher and runs a small business out if her home, when COVID she knew she had to take her sewing talents and help as much as she could, she contacted hospitals nursing facilities and started to make mask for staff, then branched out to family and friends.

Well instead of charging people, she has donated all of her services free of charge, as of yesterday she had made and donated over 750 masks! I am so proud of her and everything she is doing.

Before the pandemic started she had a small home-run business of creating memory quilts, bears and pillows for families out of the clothes of the departed loved ones, and did baking using a family frosting recipe that was our mother's.

She has put that aside and has been working on masks, she does not charge people, all she asks is for them to pay it forward in anyway that that can.

Why do you believe the nominee should be recognized or honored?

She has sewn so much her fingers have split and cracked, but she keeps pushing through.

What’s one thing you want everyone to know about your hero?:

She is a very generous loving person with a husband three daughters and lots and lots of grandchildren. She also donates weighted blankets, vest, wraps to the autism society, had created quillows — a quilt with a reversible pocket — for the new LGBTQ residence for young people who have no where to live.

>> Do YOU have a hero you would like us to know about? Share their story here