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PONTOON BEACH - As the current COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic continues to spread all over the world, it's brought out the best in people, whether it's volunteering to help, giving blood, or by doing good deeds that will help people during the crisis.
One such person who's answered the call is Granite City native Beth Bodnam, who has a Facebook group, A Sewing Circle, that has answered the call by making homemade masks for friends, family, doctors, nurses, and whoever needs one for any reason.
And she sews all the masks herself on a $30 sewing machine, providing much-needed protection for those who request it.
Her motivation for starting the group was born from a simple premise.
"When the whole pandemic started, it became obvious that the United States was not prepared, and we as a society usually shop online, orders it, and it shows up the next day," Bodnam said. "There's nothing that Amazon won't deliver, but that became not true."
Bodnam cited China as a country where the United States has outsourced much of its manufacturing jobs to, along with the fact that they were the first nation to be hit by the virus. After the virus snowballed around the world. Bodnam felt that it was a shame that no protective gear, such as masks and gowns, weren't available to hospital workers and other medical personnel. As the crisis grew around the country. some of her friends on Facebook complained of boredom and felt they had nothing to do. Bodman then came up with a solution.
"So I said I'm going to get my $30 sewing machine the size of a lunch box," Bodnam recalled. "When I was in school, we had to take a home economics class in seventh grade, which is no longer being offered. So that's how I learned to sew."
Getting encouragement from her parents, Ed and Marilyn Bodnam, both longtime teachers in the Granite City School District, when she was younger also helped.
"So I wasn't going to sit idly by and wring my hands," Bodnam said, "and I started sewing."
She made a pair of masks, and posted the results on her Facebook page. Bodnam also said that she wouldn't charge anything for her work; that she would give the masks away for free to anyone who wanted them. She's since sewed two styles of masks: An Olson mask, named for a nurse in Iowa who invented it, and contains a compartment for doctors to put needed materials in for surgery or other procedures, and a standard mask, made with two layers of cotton and one layer of flannel in between, and is usually worn by patients and designed for outside wear, The standard mask is the one that's been the most requested.
And how her group came to be called A Sewing Circle has its roots in self-reliance, an old school trait that Bodnam would love to see return.
"The reason it's called The Circle is that we, as a nation, need to go back and rethink what we're doing," Bodnam said. "We need people to go back and learn life skills. People are crippled by this virus, and they don't know what to do We need to come full circle, and need to learn how to be somewhat self-sufficient."
Besides regularly posting her creations on her Facebook page, she also asks for volunteers to help out, believing it would be great community service projects for children, and also would be very helpful on college applications for high school-age kids. She also has sewing machines to lend out in order for volunteers to make masks.
"This is a priceless opportunity for service hours," Bodnam said, "and I also have machines I can lend out."
She's also recruited her son, Jack Schwering, and her significant other, Brian Mattox, to help out with the making and distribution of the masks.
"He's (Mattox) been so super-supportive of everything," Bodnam said. "He's been running the Facebook page, and doing various jobs."
Bodnam has had many people coming up to her and thanking her for her page and contributions, and also reemphasized her point about the United States returning to a level of self-sufficiency.
"I really think that we need to rethink everything," Bodnam said, "and think of it as an opportunity to make things better, and slow down. People are acting like that this is the end of the world, but people aren't taking this seriously enough."
