Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Judy Anderson Is The Go-To Mask Maker For Kimball Public Schools
Judy Anderson of Kimball freely and proudly admits she is a "fabric-a-holic" although, being a "fabric-a-holic" has come in quite handy the past few months. As a well-known area seamstress, Judy put her skills to work making masks, thousands of masks, all with her own fabric and not charging a dime.
Kimball Jr./Sr High School Principal Danielle Reader discussed with Judy before school started the school protocol and offered to pay her for the masks, but that didn't happen.
So in August, Judy began preparations for making masks for the entire Kimball school district and the possible surge of COVID-19 during the winter months.
"I believe in helping with the prevention of the virus," she said. "I wanted to do my part to try and help, I am so blessed to be part of all this."
Reader recalled that Anderson "showed up one day before school started with a box of masks. She had sized them appropriate for each grade level (smaller for elementary, bigger for high school and staff). She also personalized many of them (special masks for music teachers as well as many with KHS and Longhorns). Now that we have a mask mandate, they have been a lifesaver."
In just five weeks, she made over 1,000 masks for Kimball Public Schools. Her target was to make 50 masks per day, "sometime less and some days more."
Judy has created a rather unique design: She has inserted an AC filter in between the two layers of fabric, thus making the mask much denser and better than the single layer mask.
Judy's contributions have included masks for the custodians and the bus drivers, along with everyone else.
Holidays make mask making fun. She made Halloween masks and now she will make Christmas masks. Using her Cricut machine, Judy has been able to put some creative designs on her masks.
Judy is very adamant about people using masks. She said people don't realize how important masks are "until they lose someone they know or love."
Early on during the pandemic, Judy began her labor of love by making around 600 masks. Those went to the Kimball hospital. Others were shipped to Washington state, Georgia, and the cities of Lincoln and Cheyenne.