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THURSDAY, APR IL 30, 2020 • KOKOMO TR IBUNE / PHAROS-TR IBUNE
LAURA ARWOOD
KOKOMO TRIBUNE
J
odi Cecil is a crafty woman. She
makes jewelry, keychains, mugs,
crochets stuffed animals, quilts
and more.
Now, she makes face masks. Cecil,
of Greentown, has been making face
masks for a few weeks. She heard that
employees at Century Villa Health Care
& Rehabilitation were collecting cloth
face masks, and she got to work.
“Of course, I got on it,” she said. “I
started with stuff I’d already had at
home.”
So far, she said she’s made about
120 masks in the past few weeks. She’s
donated masks to Century Villa, Five
Stars Residences of Northwoods, Silver
Birch of Kokomo, and anyone who has
asked, whether they’re friends, cus-
tomers of the bank she manages, First
Farmers Bank and Trust, or customers
of her crafting business.
“I have a side business (Joce’s Cre-
ations) where I make a bunch of crafts,
I have my hands in a lot of different
things,” she said. “So a lot of people
know me from that. They’ve Facebook
messaged me and asked, ‘Hey, are you
making masks? Can I have six? How
much are you charging?’”
Cecil hasn’t accepted a penny for
the masks. She is, however, accepting
donations which will go toward materi-
als, or donations of materials.
“The problem right now is there is no
elastic to be found so we’ve had to get
creative,” she said.
The shortage on elastic is so wide-
spread that ordering it on Amazon.
com comes with a waiting period that
bridges into May, she said.
“So I’ve been hitting the dollar store
for the bigger hair ties, rubber bands,
the bigger hair ties that are more fabric
than they used to be,” she said. “I’ll try
them out a couple of times, we’ll see
what works.”
While Cecil is crafty, she jokingly
said her work is not perfect.
“I am not a seamstress by any
means,” she said. “That’s what I tell
everyone. I tell them they’re not
perfect, I get distracted while I’m
sewing, my husband might come in
and say something, my line might
get a little crooked. But they are well
made and they’ll last.”
Each mask is machine-washable,
reversible and made with three layers.
Some masks allow people to make
their own filters, but Cecil’s masks are
armed with an outer layer of cotton
and an inner layer of flannel, which
creates a built-in filter. She found the
pattern on Etsy.
“If I’m uninterrupted, I could
probably get 10 done in an evening,”
she said. “It’s just kind of my stress-
reliever. It relaxes me to do crafting.”
Right now she’s also taking care of
her mom.
“It’s not necessarily mom but I have
a place in my heart for our senior
citizens. I think that they deserve a
lot better care than they sometimes
get. And, I’ve been friends with a lot
of the workers at (Century Villa) and
I know they take good care of their
residents. I just try to do my part,”
she said.
“One of these days I’m going to be
there. Our seniors have done so much
for us in the past, it’s just important
for me to make sure I give back.”
The crafter insists that she isn’t the
only person with a pay-it-forward
attitude in Greentown.
“Greentown is a small community
but we take care of each other,” she
said. “I know I’m not the only one who
donated masks, there are probably
four or five other people making
masks. We take care of our own, and
we try to do the best we can.”
For more information on masks or
to donate materials, contact Jodi at
THE MASK MAKER
Greentown woman making masks for anyone who asks
Photo by Tim Bath
Greentown
resident
Jodi Cecil
has been
making face
masks for
assisted
living
facilities as
well as
others who
have asked
since the
health crisis
has started.
