Mary Ambrose - “Community Service Fills Pandemic Need” [Trish Longacre

Community Service Fills Pandemic Need

Whether her day is filled with taking on a new household project, enjoying a new book, or spending time with family, Trish Longacre always makes time to connect with her community. Though she was born and raised in California, the Omaha community has been a strong part of Longacre’s life since she graduated from Creighton with a degree in theology and nursing. She married an Omaha native, and has been in Omaha ever since. She raised her four kids in Omaha and has met and connected with many people since living here. In the spring of 2020, Longacre became closer and more connected to the community than she could have ever imagined. Shortly after COVID-19 began spreading, there was a huge mask shortage. Hospitals, healthcare workers, and immunocompromised people were desperate for masks.

As Longacre browsed on Facebook, she noticed that with each passing day, peoples’ need for masks continued to grow. She wanted to pitch in and do what she could to help. She knew how to sew, and figured that she could do something with that talent. Longacre teamed up with her neighbor and good friend, Holly Barstow, and approached Methodist Hospital. Longacre and Barstow offered to sew masks for the hospital. Methodist immediately accepted the offer and asked the two to make 300 masks. These new volunteers had no idea what was to come. their schedules and lives were about to change drastically.

Within one day of asking Longacre and Barstow to make 300 masks, Methodist reached out and said they wanted 10,000 masks. Overwhelmed by the task on their hands, Longacre posted on her Facebook account and reached out to the community looking for people who could help with sewing to get them to the 1,000 mark.

Her facebook page blew up with more than 700 people reaching out to help with sewing. Facebook ended up being the most efficient communication tool throughout the process. Longacre and Barstow worked with Methodist to create an effective design for the masks. Methodist gave them specific advice and guidance on how to make the most effective and protective masks possible.

They also partnered up with a fabric shop to help choose the best and most effective 2-layer fabric for the masks. They created kits filled with this fabric, perfectly cut string, and instructions to help their volunteers efficiently sew the masks. Volunteers would come and pick up the kits from Longacre’s doorstep, and then return them to huge garbage bins located in her driveway when done.

Shortly after they reached Methodist’s goal, other places began to reach out. Places such as CHI Health, Offutt Airborne Flying Division, Omaha Visiting Nurses Association, One World Health Clinic, and nursing homes also needed masks. Places just kept demanding more and more masks. Longacre found that throughout the experience, “The most challenging part was turning people down because we knew that they desperately needed the masks.” They did their best not to turn places down, but to improve their system and make more. They partnered up with fabric stores across the country who generously donated fabric so that they could increase the number of masks they made. They had about 300 people sewing masks consistently from the start of their operation in February to October of 2020.

Longacre and Barstow worked nearly every day for these nine months. Longacre felt like, “There was always something to do, every single day.” There was no time for breaks throughout this process. The hard work was well worth it, because by October, Longacre, Barstow, and their team of volunteers had sewed a total of 137,000 masks

However, the operation didn’t stop with masks. they wanted more. Hospitals wanted surgical gowns and surgical caps as well. Constructing gowns and caps was more complicated than the masks and involved a more difficult process than coming up with the best way to sew the masks. Volunteers were easily frustrated with making the gowns because of the difficulty level. Despite the struggles with making gowns and caps, they met the hospital’s needs and made 240 surgical gowns and 4,000 scrub caps.

By J1 Reporter Mary Ambrose

“The most challenging part was turning people down because we knew that they desperately needed the masks.”

The community recognized Longacre and Barstow for their hours and hours of service and hard work. News channels such as KETV interviewed them toward the end of the project. People wrote thank you letters and sent thank you baskets. They also made many new friends that they have been able to stay in touch with. Most importantly, they inspired people from all over Omaha to help one another in a time of need. The coordinators of the massive COVID mask, surgical cap, and gown opertaion, Holly Barstow (left) and Trish Longacre (right).

Team of nurses and doctors from CHI Health Center wear surgical caps designed by volunteers throughout Omaha. Photos courtesy of Longacre.