By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Staff
Coronavirus is on the minds of everyone right now. But for the doers of our world, there is only one question in their mind: what can I do to make this situation better?
For Manisha Jain, the answer to this question came when she saw a request for handmade masks. This one simple request resulted in the creation of Sew We Care, and organization that creates PPE for medical staff working during the pandemic.
Soon after finishing her first mask, Jain realized that she needed some more fabric and a lot more people. On March 24, Jain posted on Facebook and her neighborhood's Nextdoor page asking for fabric donations. "Within a couple of hours, I received tons of fabric donated at my doorstep," recalls Jain. Friends joined to help with the sewing, but soon, others were eager to help.
Jharna Madan from North Reading saw the post and reached out to find out what she could do. Jain and Madan began working together, producing an instructional video and sending the word out. "Rest is history! In a nutshell, it was my anxiety and the need to do something to help that spurred this project, and it gained wings through the generosity of Jharna and countless others in our group," says Jain. The name of the group is a pun, created by Jain's daughter, that perfectly goes with Sew We Care's purpose.
The volunteers communicate using a WhatsApp group chat, delegating tasks and exchanging tips. "It's basically an assembly line that spans across households, all connected by our collective desire to be of service through sewing. My home serves as an epicenter: those providing cloth will drop off the bag on my porch, and those who cut and iron will come pick it up. Once cut and ironed, someone else is responsible for actually sewing the masks," explains Jain.
What began as a small effort to help donate PPE has grown into a large group whose members span through New England. "We have approximately 140 volunteers, spanning 35 different towns in MA and NH. Each of these volunteers [is] not alone … their entire families are behind and with them. So in reality, we have an average of 140 times four, which is about 550 generous souls involved in this project, currently. We have 'sewing hotbeds' in Dover, Sharon, Lexington, Burlington, Chelmsford, Westford, Shrewsbury, Southboro, and Nashua, NH. Our volunteers range in ages from 10 years old to 70 years old, all engaging in whichever way they can to help," says Jain. So far, the group has made and delivered more than 9,000 masks and scrub caps to more than 100 different organizations and hospitals.
Nothing is certain at the moment when it comes to the coronavirus, but Sew We Care is dedicated to ensuring healthcare workers fighting this hard battle are properly equipped. What started off as an effort to help with the PPE crisis has led to volunteers forming a bond they never expected. “While many of us Sew We Care volunteers were strangers to each other a month ago, we have forged unlikely bonds during this uncertain time. We even had our first Zoom meeting and got to say hello to each other. We can’t wait to have a proper dinner party and embrace each other!” says Jain.
Hopefully, these selfless volunteers will get to meet each other soon, but until then, they will be hard at work.
