Sandra Dodd a DAR member, has made many free masks for Botetourt and beyond

Sandra Dodd of Fincastle has been very busy all Spring and Summer. She is retired, you may recall her from the Kroger service desl and is a member of the DAR. When Covid-19 broke out, she learned to make cloth masks to defend against the disease as a personal project in her service to her DAR Botetourt Chapter that is part of the DAR District VII.

To date she has made over 500 masks that have been mailed all over the country and have been given away for free here, too. For instance, she has donated over 35 to a give away box at Century 21 Wampler Realty, to Kroger Employees, local workers, frontline workers in healthcare and many, many more. She said, “The more masks I have made the better they have gotten!”

Her grandchildren and many other family members are RN’s. She wanted to help those who look after the rest of us during the pandemic. So, she began her mask making. Being new to the DAR, (she has belonged 9 months,) she thought it would be a good personal project. Nationwide, DAR members like Dodd have made over 500,000 masks, 40,000 PPE, like aprons and other items.

Much of the cloth came from the Showalters (who have both since passed away) of Fincastle, and their daughter Carla Jean Keith several years ago. Dodd kept it stored away. Dixie Oberg of Fincastle provided elastic and the ties used in the nose area came from the local Kroger.  Her cousin sent her material, and other people have joined in the effort to help with the materials and distribution.

She counts her hours for the Botetourt Chapter of the DAR, which has a group project, leadership training projects and personal projects like this one by Dodd. Said former Botetourt Chapter regent Carole Geiger, “We are an apolitical service organization and we try to be a part of local, state and national service.”

As for Dodd, she hasn’t closed up her sewing machine just yet. “I am still making adult and children’s masks.”

–Cathy Benson and Photo by Glenn Dodd