BSC alumni across Birmingham are making clinical masks for those who need them most. Whether they’re embroidery experts or have just started in the last couple of days, at least 14 members of the BSC community are contributing to the growing group, Bham Face Masks.

Nearly one dozen alumni and parents are part of the mask-making group, including Kelly Horton Kean ’87, Tamara Harper ’06, Anna Spruiell Kittinger ’04, Monica Esman (mother of Stephanie Esman ’14 and students Isabella and Kaitlyn Esman), Catherine Alaina Roberts ’17, Brenda Brazil ’90, Rachel Gosnell ’15, Lin Chen ’08, Amanda Wise Vaughan (mother of senior Gracie Vaughan), Sherry Hamner Ammons ’98, and Kristin Harper ’92.

Bham Face Masks is collecting masks and encouraging people to help healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. “The gift I have to be able to help in this way is something I felt led to do. It’s something small we can do for the people who are doing so much for us,” Kean says.

Mask assembling efforts have grown so much that the group created a website where people can make requests for masks to be made and delivered to locations around the nation. As of March 30, Bham Face Masks distributed 10,010 of the 12,210 masks that have been requested.

Harper is helping encourage contributions through Smallwoods Studio, her embroidery business. Along with posting tutorials and patterns to help others, she’s also making them herself. Tamara has explained through her social media that the masks need to be washable and many healthcare professionals can need up to three, so the demand is high.

Wednesday, BSC theatre department’s costume supervisor Megan Pecot ’18 started making masks with BSC costumer Patti Manning and senior Matthew Torbett. They’re looking to distribute specifically to HIV patients through Birmingham AIDs Outreach, which is the official philanthropy for their chapter of Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society.

We’re so grateful for those in Birmingham (and beyond) who are helping support many different industries during this time. That includes our biology and chemistry departments who recently sent five boxes of personal protective equipment to UAB hospital. Thank you for all that you do!