WHITE CITY -- A group of four students from the Paul J. Hill School of Business at the University of Regina have launched “Sask Masks”, a project that tackles two growing needs in the community.
Just more than a week ago, the group launched a Facebook page and Instagram. They were met with overwhelming demand.
“We immediately started recruiting sewers and some help, and also got some more material so now we’re in full production,” said Jana Ham, one of the students behind the initiative.
Sask Masks sells handmade masks for $20 each. Then, the net proceeds are donated to three local organizations: Carmichael Outreach, the Regina YWCA and the Regina Food Bank.
So far, $1500 in donations have been made in the short time Sask Masks has been up and running.
Seventeen seamstresses are working hard to produce as many masks as possible, plus another three people cutting material.
“The first night I had probably 47 masks made,” Ham said. “One of our seamstresses can actually produce like 100 masks a day.”
John Bailey, the CEO of the Regina Food Bank, says this could help encourage donations from those who might not otherwise think to.
“It’s an incredible sort of boost in an innovative way to sort of serve a dual purpose of helping support some community organizations but also doing their part to keep the community safe,” Bailey said, adding monetary donations play a critical role when food donations are down. “$50 will feed a family of two or three for about a week, and every little bit counts.”
The initiative is part of a global program the U of R participates in called “Enactus”.
“Each school does entrepreneurial projects that help reach the U.N. sustainable development goals,” Ham explained.
Although doing most of the work behind the sewing machine at the start, Ham has since focused on getting the word out, an effort also seeing success.
Sask Masks has already partnered with Saskatchewan-based Flat Clothing and even received a shout out from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Ham says given the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, she believes many of the organizations they’re supporting are going to see much more use.
“There’s a lot of weight going onto those non-profit organizations,” “So it’s important to support them at this time because I think the demand for them is only getting greater.”
Sask Masks is accepting donations of materials like 100 per cent quilter’s cotton and three millimetre elastics in order to keep making the masks.
