With COVID-19 shutting down all school systems and posing a public health threat, senior Lizzy Burzumato and her mom are making masks for people in need. In some of her spare time though, Burzumato, along with other students, has focused on keeping in touch with friends.

“I’m doing the best I can, just trying to stay positive and keeping in touch with friends,” Burzumato said.

With the quarantine, people had to find ways to keep themselves busy and active. With the stay home order it can be hard for people to find things to do. 

“I’ve been painting and drawing every day. Lots of puzzles and Netflix,” Burzumato said.

When people go out, many of them are wearing masks to protect themselves and others. Some are also making masks to help to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus. 

“We give them to friends and family, anyone who asks for one,” Burzumato said.

Rather than sitting around and doing nothing, there are some parents and students that are making masks to help the community and healthcare providers.

“We couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. We wanted to do our part to help and since we both know how to sew, it seemed like the best we could do,” Burzumato said.

Some people are selling masks to people in the community that need one- then there are people who just give them out for free to anyone who is in need.

“We aren’t selling them. We’ve just been giving them to whoever asks for one,” Burzumato said.

Burzumato’s sister works at a hospital and contracted the Coronavirus. She wants to help other healthcare works and victims of the virus by donating her masks to the hospital.

“We haven’t donated yet, but it is my hope that we will give them to a hospital. My sister-in-law is a nurse in Arlington, VA, and she actually contracted the disease on the job. She recovered fine and returned to work as soon as she was able, but the health care workers are close to my heart and any way I can support them, I will,” Burzumato said.

For a lot of high school seniors, their next plan is college, since their senior year got canceled.

“I’m attending BRCC starting either this summer or in the fall. I will be studying business management. I want to be a bridal consultant and I hope to one day open my own wedding dress shop,” Burzumato said.

 The masks project is easy for some people; especially those who know how to sew. 

“My mom and I are both seamstresses, so this is how we can help,” Burzumato said.

Burzumato and her mom have made a good amount of masks to give out to people. 

“My mom and I have made about 50 maks for people that need [them],” Burzumato said.

The CDC has provided certain guidelines for people who make their own masks so they will effectively protect people so they don’t get COVID-19. 

“The CDC said that any fabric that was 100% cotton was good to use. It would be 75% effective against the virus. We had lots of old sheets that were 100% cotton so that’s the fabric we used for a while. When we were able to go to the store we bought more fabric that was 100% cotton to make the masks look more stylish,” Burzumato said.

In Burzumato’s method, there are eight steps to make a mask. They take time to make, especially if you are trying to make more than one. 

“Each mask has several parts to it. Rather than making one mask at a time, we make 10 or so of each part and then assemble them in stages. Making one complete mask at a time would probably take about 30 minutes,” Burzumato said.