inspiration : sandra vansickle
Leading in a Time of Crisis BY SOPHIA BENNETT
W
indow Fashion VISION is thrilled
supplies and even our emotions. If we ran out of elastic,
to honor Sandra VanSickle
we cut strips from T-shirts. If the pattern didn’t fit right,
with the VISION Industry
Achievement Award for her
leadership with Mask America, a
we altered it. We called ourselves the modern-day Rosies. We were unstoppable and knew that we could do this together.”
grassroots project to sew masks
for health care workers across the United States.
One of the most rewarding things about the project has been helping people return to sewing or learn
In the early days of the COVID-19
to sew for the first time. “We enlisted the
pandemic, it quickly became apparent that
help of our children, grandchildren, our senior
there was not a sufficient supply of masks,
parents, men, women and children,” VanSickle
gowns and other personal protective
said. “Many shared that they had never sewn
equipment for doctors, nurses, first
before, but they found their mom’s machine
responders and others on the front lines
in the closet and learned how to make a
of the crisis. VanSickle created a Facebook
mask. The stories of teenage brothers sitting
page called Mask America and put out
at a sewing machine determined to make a
a call to fellow workroom professionals,
difference brought me joy.”
asking them to make masks that could be donated to hospitals and other facilities.
A silver lining has been difficult to find in the midst of this crisis. But VanSickle said the
The response was immediate and
project has been just that for her and many
overwhelming. Within nine weeks of
others. “At times, I wanted to be angry. At
launching Mask America, sewers had made
others, I thought I was growing too weary
more than 130,000 fabric masks. The number continues to
to continue. But the private conversations with members
grow, as does the mission. People are now making masks
pouring their hearts out, saying making masks gave them
for members of the general public and sending them all
a purpose, touched my heart. We gave, and are still giving
over the country. And while VanSickle started with her
of our time, talents, resources and prayers. We made a
workroom colleagues, quilters, crafters and others have
difference, a historic difference.”
also joined the project. All of these people might not have had the same “It is a humbling journey, even though many would agree
opportunity to make a difference without VanSickle’s
it was like a roller-coaster ride that almost 1,700 members
commitment to Mask America. For that, we offer her our
from over 40 states across the U.S. were on,” shared
eternal thanks and gratitude.
VanSickle. “But we were on it together, and we were resourceful and resilient. We shared our patterns, ideas,
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JULY + AUGUST 2020 | wf-vision.com
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