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Colbert makes masks for the community


By Ralph Dickerson
Lewisport resident Karen Colbert likes to sew. Each year she helps quilt blankets to give to county military service veterans at the Veterans Day Celebration. Colbert likes to help the community wherever possible. When the coronavirus pandemic started to ramp up in the area, and masks started to be in short supply, Colbert sprang into action and began making masks.
“My daughter-in-law Sue (Simpson) texted me the link that Deaconess Hospital has on YouTube,” Karen said. “That was the first place that I saw where someone was actually making the masks and talking about the need for the masks.”
Soon, Karen learned of a need for the masks at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, put aside her other sewing projects and started making the masks. She and her sister Diana Manaugh got together one Saturday afternoon and made the masks.
“WE took them to the hospital, but they were not accepting them then,” Karen said. “So I ended up donating them to Heartland Villa.”
So far, she has made 153 masks. In addition, she donated several more masks to Heartland Villa in Lewisport again, made some for Hancock Bank, Bill’s IGA, and contacted the EMTs in Lewisport to see if they needed any masks.
“Since we have not had much of the virus in the county, he said they were okay,” Karen said. “I am going to call back in a couple of weeks to make sure.”
She also contacted St. Camillus, but someone already made some masks for them.
Karen uses 100-percent cotton, recommended by Deaconess Hospital, to make the masks. She said it takes roughly 10 to 15 minutes to make each mask, but she does not make them one at a time. She uses an assembly line method to make the masks, and makes about 25 to 30 at a time.
She cuts out the material to the specified size for the mask, places the pieces of cloth down face-to-face with elastic between the sheets and sews them together. She then turns the mask right side out, and pins the pleats.
“Later I will go back and top stitch the mask twice,” Karen said. “It’s not really tight, but it is form fitting around the face.”
Shortly after she started to make the masks, a couple of seamstresses Karen knows contacted her about making the masks. She gave each of them a mask to study.
“I gave them one as a pattern,” Karen said. “They can look at it and figure it out.”
Karen said it probably costs two to three dollars each to make a mask, but it did not cost her that much because she already had the material on hand. She called herself a fabric hoarder, and constantly shops bargain places to find inexpensive material.
“Fabric is very expensive,” Karen said. “Fabric is just like real estate: it goes up in value.”
On Monday afternoon, she planned to drop off 35 masks at Bill’s IGA. A friend of Wayne Stephens wanted some masks, so she dropped them off there for him to pick them up. Karen said she keeps a supply of masks with her constantly, and gives them to anyone who asks for one.
“If I see someone at Bill’s and they want one, I hand them one,” she said. “I have had people call and text me.”
Karen said she does not sell the masks, but does take donations from people for the masks. Karen said she would put the donations back into the community in some way.
People wanting a mask can call Hawesville United Methodist Church and leave a message on the church answering machine. The number is 270.927.8404.
“I am not making them to make money,” Karen said. “I am making them because the community needs them.”

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