YORK, S.C. (AP) - Crouched over a sewing machine indoors while the sun shines isn’t how Norah Caulder thought she’d be spending her time this spring.
Instead of scooping ground balls in the infield, or catching behind home plate, the Legion Collegiate freshman softball player is volunteering her time to fill an ever-growing need as the coronavirus threat looms: She’s helping make cloth masks.
Caulder told The Herald in a phone interview that she was first inspired to help by her aunt, who announced on Facebook that she was making cloth masks in light of the demand for them.
“My aunt, Cynthia (McCarter), started this whole process, and they were kind of getting backtracked,” Caulder said. “They couldn’t keep up (with the demand), so I volunteered to help come cut out and put things together.”
Caulder said she and a number of family members have pitched in on the effort. Another aunt of Caulder, Rhonda Williams, told The Herald they’ve made “a couple hundred” masks so far and still have requests for “many more.” All of the masks that have been made have been distributed, Williams said.
“At this point, our issue is finding elastic,” Williams said.
The mask only requires two pieces of cloth, a mask filter and elastic to comfortably wrap around the user’s head.
“Norah, over the last two days, has cut out a lot and sewed them together,” Williams said. “We’re as far as we can get, and we’re kind of stuck until we get some more elastic.”
CLOTH MASKS TO SLOW COVID-19
The masks Caulder is helping make are intended to be used to keep people safe as they do everyday, essential activities such as going to the grocery store.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends cloth face coverings for use by the general public to slow the spread of the virus.
“We have one person at an assisted living home needing about 50 masks,” Williams said. “We’ve got to find a way to get them put together and get the masks to them.”
Legion Collegiate softball coach Mark Cooke said Caulder’s help in these efforts reflects her energetic, giving personality.
“Of course I’m really proud of her, but it’s not a surprise to me,” Cooke said. “Norah is a really sentimental kid. And she really tries to help everybody.”
Cooke was a hall of fame softball coach at Winthrop prior to taking his post in 2019 at Legion Collegiate - which is one of the 17 schools authorized by the Charter Institute at Erskine and is Rock Hill’s newest public charter school. Cooke said he’s known Caulder for several years because she was a regular attendee at his camps.
“I’ve known her for probably six or seven years,” Cooke said. “I’ve known the whole family, and she’s always been the soft-hearted one, the one who wanted to help everybody out. …
“She communicates with kids really well. She takes charge of a lot of things. Norah has a lot of energy, and she just needs to find a way to channel it. I think it’s perfect for her. That’s the kind of person she is.”
HOW TO HELP
Caulder’s family is accepting monetary donations to continue producing cloth masks via PayPal. You can donate to rhondavwill@gmail.com.
Others throughout the Tri-County community are finding ways to help amid the pandemic, including Travis Taylor of York, who is building face shields for medical workers using his at-home 3D printer.
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