Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) – A Lexington mother and her two daughters are more than halfway to their 100-masks goal cutting and sewing medical style masks that they then plan to donate to Lexington Medical Center. Megan Waters and her daughters Pagelyn, 17, and Aubrey, 14, have made about 55 of these masks so far after seeing Lexington Medical’s Centers request for help in The Lexington Ledger.
Megan says that for years, she was a stay at home mom. When her girls were younger, she taught herself to sew to save money on their clothing. After her girls got a little older and her son was nearing pre-school age, she went back to work and put the sewing aside. That was about 5 years ago.
When the request from LMC went out for masks that would go to hospital employees who work in non-clinical areas and are not involved in direct patient care, Megan thought about her old sewing machine and the yards of fabric she had put away in her attic. Although she was working from home, she felt this would be the perfect time to teach her girls a little more about serving others by making the masks after her work time and their schoolwork was over.
In the mornings, Megan works for the SC Department of Corrections as their employee benefit coordinator. If you ever go to work for the SCDOC, Megan will be the one that explains to you your benefits and helps you get enrolled. After her work hours are complete, she heads to her den with the girls. It’s become their impromptu sewing room and masks factory.
Megan says that both Pagelyn and Aubrey help by cutting the fabric and currently, she’s doing the sewing. She hopes one of the girls will eventually show an interest in learning that and pick up sewing too.
Megan ordered the elastic bands for the mask from Amazon and Kris Quinto, a fellow coworker, donated baskets, and zippered plastic bags to put the masks in. A few nurses that have received masks from Megan also donated items. Mary Jean Howard, her son’s teacher at Springdale Baptist Preschool, stopped by Saturday, noticed the work that was going on, and wanted to help with the project. She took material and patterns home with her. Now, she’s helping cut and is sewing the center pieces together. Megan says that with any luck, her team will have 100 to take to the hospital soon, and 50 more a bit later.
Megan said Monday that she thrives off helping others in her community and being a servant leader to others. “I also try to set an example for my children to always help those in need and volunteer in their community as much as possible.” She continued by saying, “COVID-19 has put a halt to our normal way of living, but it has not stopped us from helping. It has caused more people to be caring during this scary time and to help those in need which is what our community and country needs right now.”
