The Superior Express -

When Mary Kahldahl heard her sister, Pat Kelly of Pender, was making masks for the Pender Hospital, she thought it was a great idea. Pat's daughter-in-law is the C.E.O. at the hospital in Pender so Mary, who volunteers at the Brodstone Memorial Hospital gift shop, knew if the Pender hospital needed masks, Brodstone Memorial Hospital might need them too. She contacted Karen Tinkham, administrative assistant at Brodstone, to see if the hospital could use them. Karen was thrilled with the idea.

Mary researched different patterns on line and a pattern her sister had given her. Then she reached out to her quilting friends and acquaintances from Superior, Nelson, Courtland, Republic and Hardy to see if they would be interested in the mask project. Mary provided the patterns. The group used their own remnants from other sewing projects to create 200 masks.

When elastic for the masks dwindled, Mary reached out to people explaining elastic was needed for masks. People donated generously to the cause.

When Mary first started sewing the masks together, the first mask took about 20 minutes to make. After 85 masks, she had the time down to seven minutes.

Karen Tinkham is appreciative of all the masks individuals and groups have donated to Brodstone Memorial Hospital. At last count, the hospital has received 769 donated masks. Masks have even been received from Ord, Neb. The donor was a friend of a Brodstone Hospital employee who wanted to help.

Businesses and individuals have also donated mask extenders to help with comfort when wearing the masks for long periods of time. Employees at the hospital are required to wear masks at all times at the hospital. The donated cloth masks have greatly helped Brodstone extend the hospital's inventory of PPE masks (personal protective equipment). The PPE masks can be used for employees who work directly with the patients while the fabric masks can be worn by employees not in contact with patients.

Tinkham said the hospital uses between 125 and 150 cloth masks every day. They are then laundered and reused. It takes a lot of masks because of sizing and comfort for the wearer. Some masks have ties while others use elastic. The masks are washed daily. If they get saturated or contaminated during a shift, the employee immediately gets a new mask. Masks are washed in a warm cycle and dried.

With all the mask donations, the hospital auxiliary is able to continue working on their sewing projects. Besides doing mending, the auxiliary sewing committee makes new items such as surgery pillows, nursing pillows, walker caddies, heart monitor bags and ice pack covers. Some of the items are sent home with patients such as the pillows. Other items such as ice pack covers and monitor bags are laundered and reused. Earlier this year, the sewing committee surpassed their goal for the month of 40 lap robes. Instead, they made 50 lap robes for patients in one month.

The auxiliary helps the hospital in more ways than just sewing. The auxiliary has donated more than $870,000 to the hospital which includes Nifty Thrifty donations, revenue from the Hospital Gift Shop and their other fundraising activities.

Unfortunately,because of COVID-19. Nifty Thrifty is closed and unable to take donations now for the safety of the staff and customers. Management is watching closely for announcements on directed health measures for guidance on an opening date.

Current officers for the auxiliary are Norrisa Flores, president; Amy Wenske, vice president; Sherry Gebers, secretary; and Emily Kirchhoff, treasurer. The auxiliary has two meetings a year, one in the spring and one in the fall. The spring meeting was cancelled this year. Membership is $1 a year or $25 lifetime membership. Membership is open to both men and women. Contact Norrisa Flores at 402-879-3281 if you would like to join. Current membership is 216.

Tinkham is thankful for the outpouring of generous donations and support from the individuals, businesses and groups who have joined together to help keep the community healthy and safe.