Wall of Volunteers – Sewists
Volunteers from our community and beyond have put their skills to work, sewing well over 1200 face masks to date. Without their generosity and commitment, this initiative would not be possible – many thanks to everyone pictured below!
Click on the photos below for additional information about these talented, sewing volunteers.
Anna Enos is a senior at Auburn University sheltering with her family in Pittsburgh. She is sending us 50 masks she made from another pattern, and we are shipping her 50 AU mask kits!
Sue Mason, Volunteer Sewist
Dr. Joseph Emmanuel Quansah, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Tuskegee University, has been volunteering his time sewing masks. He is married to Director of Outreach Global, Dr. Elizabeth Essamuah-Quansah, who is volunteering with the distribution effort!
Andrea Schnittka is a graduate of James Madison University, the University of Kentucky, and Virginia Commonwealth University. She is sheltering at home with her parents. She and her mom, Auburn University College of Education Professor, Dr. Christine Schnittka (AU Engineering class of '86), have made over 500 masks together! They were already working with East Alabama Mask Makers when Outreach approached Dr. Schnittka about developing the design for the mask and the instructional materials to go with it.
Carol Womer, OLLI Sewist
Rebecca Long, OLLI Sewist
Gail Coblick Hoffman, shown here finishing the 45th face mask that she has sewn for the cause!
Kevin Coonrod, Auburn University Ombudsperson, bought a sewing machine and is teaching himself to sew to participate in this project.
Margaret Craig-Schmidt is a long-time OLLI member and emeritus faculty member in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University. She is part of OLLI's volunteer leadership and has enjoyed volunteering her time sewing masks for the cause.
Patti Gibson, Volunteer Sewist
Mother and daughter, Ayse and Zeynep Bilgili, have sewn over 20 face masks so far and they are currently working on many more!
Arlene Heil, OLLI Sewist
Fenny Dane, OLLI Sewist
Jerry Sue Jones, OLLI Sewist
Mary, Volunteer Sewist
Robin Servine is a graduate of Auburn University ('90), and has been volunteering her time sewing masks for the cause. Robin's children are 4th generation Auburn students, with one currently an AU sophomore and the other a graduating high school senior who will be an AU freshman in the fall.
Jean Shepherd enjoys using her sewing skills to help those around her - last year she sewed 300 dresses for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes! She jumped at the chance to help during this pandemic and together with her daughter, Susan Waldrop, they have produced over 200 masks!
Susan Waldrop grew up yelling 'War Eagle'. She is an Auburn graduate with two master degress, MBA and Master of Finance. Susan began sewing masks after being recruited by her mother, Jean Shepherd, and together they have produced over 200 masks!
Addie Adams is a retired educator who moved to Auburn four years ago. She is an active OLLI member and is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the mask project and make a contribution to the community while sheltering in place.
Susan Taylor is sewing for the project from Enterprise, Alabama and has completed 50 masks so far! She is a retired Family and Consumer Sciences teacher who is currently teaching Nutrition and Wellness with ACCESS. She and her husband have a daughter, Aubrey Taylor, that is finishing her second year at Auburn University, majoring in Laboratory Science.
Flarcie Hopkins, OLLI Sewist – Flarcie has sewn over 100 masks so far!
Tami Isaacs-Smith works at Auburn University as a research associate in the laboratory of Dr. Sarit Dhar, where they study silicon caride for use in electronics. So far, Tami has sewn over 250 face masks, making her one of our most industrious sewists!
Charlene Redick, OLLI Sewist
This Church of the Highlands Neighborhood-Outreach small group has been volunteering with both the sewing and distribution effort of this project. The beautiful ladies shown here are making 30 face masks for the parents of the Drake Housing Development. The small group goes out every Thursday to the complex.
Beverly and John Gettys have sewn over 300 masks for the Outreach COVID-19 mask project. They moved to Auburn from Eufaula last year and are looking forward to joining OLLI soon. Making masks is keeping them busy and helping them meet people and be productive.
Auburn Alum, Gemina Stroud, took the initiative to learn how to make face masks, in order to give back to Auburn and the community. Gemina graduated from Auburn in 2000 with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration/Marketing.
Su Ok Swafford found out about this project through her church, First Baptist of Opelika, and has since contributed her sewing skills to making face masks. Her next project is to sew for the senior citizens in the congregation.
Local Sewist
Sewist Mary Bunch, from Orlando, Fl, is helping the initiative by requesting mask kits, sewing them, and then shipping them back to us for distribution!
Sewist Paula Lansdon, from Cecil, Al, is an Auburn alum and has sewn over 300 masks for the initiative so far!
Sewist Carol Dye, from Lake Harding in Alabama, has sewn over 165 masks and will continue sewing for this project as long as it lasts!
Cheryl Hatcher, Local Sewist
Sewist Kay Owens, is an Alabama Crimson Tide fan at heart but she has been helping with the Auburn face mask initiative because "we're all in this together!"
Sewist Katie Prather Basden, has sewn over 30 masks for the initiative and enjoys using her love of sewing to help others!
Sewist, Shannon Johnson-Novack
Sewist Sissy S. is 98 years old, and has sewn 90 masks for the Outreach COVID-19 Mask Initiative. Her sister sewed 10, so the family contributed 100! During the 1960's, she worked in the AU Math Dept and was the first person to teach computer languages (COBOL and Fortran) at Auburn, where she received both her BA and MS.
Last Updated: June 9, 2020