MBES 5th-grader uses time to sew for a good cause

Mountain Brook Elementary School fifth-grader Claire Leonard took advantage of her time away from school to help health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to learning online, Leonard has sewn more than 50 protective masks for healthcare workers in the Birmingham area.

“It makes me feelgood because I’m doing my part and what we need to do in this crazy time,” she said.

Leonard grew up sewing by hand with her grandparents and learned how to use a sewing machine about a year ago. When her mother, Elena, a part-time physical therapist at a skilled nursing facility, found out that some of her coworkers needed masks, she turned to her daughter.

Leonard started sewing cotton masks at her home with the help of her mother and sister, Ann Elise, a seventh-grader at Mountain Brook Junior High. The two of them cut the fabric and then handed it off to Leonard.

The masks feature different patterns on the exterior and a pocket in the middle for filters. Claire has helped deliver the masks to their recipients at her mother’s workplace and such hospitals as UAB and St. Vincent’s.

“I’m just so proud that she’s taken the initiative to do something like that in this time of need,” her mother said.

Claire said she planned to keep sewing masks until they are no longer needed.

Submitted by Mountain Brook Schools.