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The Amish community in Elkhart County has been hard at work over the last month sewing and donating face masks. The group collectively donated roughly 4,500 masks to Goshen Health.
The Amish community worked together from all different church districts in Middlebury to create the masks. Some sewed, others gathered fabric and supplies, and some delivered masks.
Paul Schlabach is part of many families who pitched in. He says the Amish felt inspired by scripture, the need for masks, and the desire to do meaningful work during quarantine.
“Jesus is not down here to make face masks, but he’ll make people available that can make face masks," he says. "We’re all called to be the hands and feet of Jesus and this is our small way of helping out.”
Schlabach says making the masks has been fun for the community.
“It’s a tight knit community and everybody knows what the other is doing," he says. "If there’s a need in the community, people volunteer, especially if they have time. This is just a small way of giving back to the community that does so much for us.”
Goshen Health provided kits for the first several masks. After those ran out, the Amish started using donated fabric and some of their own materials.
Schlabach says the community plans to keep making masks as long as the shutdown continues.
Goshen Health Vice President Jim Caskey says the masks are being used for health workers on the front line, as well hospital employees behind the scenes, and the patients they’re serving.
“With all of our differences, we are completely aligned in our mission of taking care of the community.”
The CDC recommends everyone wear face masks when in public to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16
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