Note to
our readers:
May/June 2020
VOLUME 2 | NO. 3
Senior Connections HJ.COM
This is a combined
May/June
issue.
Jill Jackson of Dassel donates hundreds of masks
to help fight coronavirus
AMY JOHNSON
Correspondent
As the nation pulls together to slow the spread of
COVID-19, demand for face masks to protect es-
sential workers and the general public is high, but
there is a nationwide shortage of masks available
for those who need them.
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
approved the use of homemade cloth coverings,
recommending the use of simple cloth face cov-
erings to slow the spread of the virus, preventing
people who may have the virus from transmitting
it to others.
Jackson takes action
After hearing about the critical shortage of
masks, Jill Jackson of Dassel pulled her sewing
machine out of the closet and got to work.
With the state under a stay-at-home order, Jack-
son found herself working half her normal hours.
“I needed something to do besides cleaning. I de-
cided to take out a sewing machine that I normally
only took out once or twice per year to mend this
little curtain or that jacket, and now it is sitting on
my kitchen table making more masks every day.”
It took Jackson over an hour to sew the first
mask. She explains, “I’m not a sewer. I know the
basics, but that’s about it.”
After making her first 20 masks, Jackson con-
nected with DeAnn’s Country Village Shop in
Litchfield.
The owner, DeAnn Rothstein, has coordinated a
process where sewers drop completed masks off at
the shop, where they are then washed and pressed
before being delivered where needed. They have
been dubbed the Masked Mama Angels and are
currently 70-plus sewers strong.
“It’s an awesome service they are doing for the
community, donating masks all over Meeker Coun-
ty, where the need is, including nursing homes,
hospitals, and day care centers,” Jackson said.
Jackson has been sewing constantly since mak-
ing that first mask.
“It started as just something to do and it made me
feel better to help in any way possible. On the days
I can’t work, it gives me joy. As I sew the masks,
I say a prayer for the health and wellbeing of the
people who are going to be receiving the masks.”
Senior
Connections is
Along with the Masked Mama Angels efforts,
Jackson has donated masks to people she knows
who have requested them.
“I have one friend who works at Ecumen in
Litchfield and does some home visits with seniors.
They were in need of masks, so I donated 60 there.”
Before this week, Jackson had already made over
110 masks and plans to drop off an additional 100
masks at the end of this week.
More MASKS on Pg 3
distributed to:
Annandale | Buffalo | Cokato | Darwin | Dassel | Delano | Glencoe | Howard Lake | Hutchinson | Kimball | Lester Prairie
Litchfield | Loretto | Maple Lake | Maple Plain | Mayer | Montrose | Mound | New Germany | Norwood Young America
Rockford | Silver Lake | South Haven | St. Bonifacius | Waconia | Watertown | Waverly | Winsted