Leading in a Time of Crisis

BY SOPHIA BENNETT

Window Fashion VISION is thrilled to honor Sandra VanSickle with the VISION Industry Achievement Award for her leadership with Mask America, a grassroots project to sew masks for health care workers across the United States. supplies and even our emotions. If we ran out of elastic, we cut strips from T-shirts. If the pattern didn’t fit right, we altered it. We called ourselves the modern-day Rosies. We were unstoppable and knew that we could do this together.”

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, it quickly became apparent that there was not a sufficient supply of masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment for doctors, nurses, first responders and others on the front lines of the crisis. VanSickle created a Facebook page called Mask America and put out a call to fellow workroom professionals, asking them to make masks that could be donated to hospitals and other facilities.

The response was immediate and overwhelming. Within nine weeks of launching Mask America, sewers had made more than 130,000 fabric masks. The number continues to grow, as does the mission. People are now making masks for members of the general public and sending them all over the country. And while VanSickle started with her workroom colleagues, quilters, crafters and others have also joined the project.

“It is a humbling journey, even though many would agree it was like a roller-coaster ride that almost 1,700 members from over 40 states across the U.S. were on,” shared VanSickle. “But we were on it together, and we were resourceful and resilient. We shared our patterns, ideas, One of the most rewarding things about the project has been helping people return to sewing or learn to sew for the first time. “We enlisted the help of our children, grandchildren, our senior parents, men, women and children,” VanSickle said. “Many shared that they had never sewn before, but they found their mom’s machine in the closet and learned how to make a mask. The stories of teenage brothers sitting at a sewing machine determined to make a difference brought me joy.”

A silver lining has been difficult to find in the midst of this crisis. But VanSickle said the project has been just that for her and many others. “At times, I wanted to be angry. At others, I thought I was growing too weary to continue. But the private conversations with members pouring their hearts out, saying making masks gave them a purpose, touched my heart. We gave, and are still giving of our time, talents, resources and prayers. We made a difference, a historic difference.”

All of these people might not have had the same opportunity to make a difference without VanSickle’s commitment to Mask America. For that, we offer her our eternal thanks and gratitude. V