Mask crusaders: Family creates cover-ups for a great cause

by Alison Jankowski
edited by Paul Lambert

With the need for protective gear in our communities, one family is spreading kindness one stitch at a time.

Sevim Bastug of Holden Massachusetts is a teacher and a passionate fundraiser for the Oxalosis and Hyperoxaluria Foundation (OHF). The goal of the organization is to provide treatment and discover a cure for the disease. The disease causes toxic levels of oxalate (an end product of metabolism) in the body that cannot be broken down and over time results in vital organ failure. Her own daughter suffered from the disease and required a liver and kidney transplant in 2015.

In March Bastug said she was brainstorming fundraising ideas for the foundation because a planned event had been canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. After she heard about the anticipated shortage of masks she gathered together with the members of “Team Teodora.” The team consisted of a co-worker and eight of her family members.

(Photo: Sevim Bastug)

“We are all sewers in my family so this seemed like a perfect solution to our fundraising needs,” Bastug said. “ I looked online for the mask pattern and my coworker and I decided to give it a try. I made my first sample mask and have not stopped.”

To date, they have sewn over 1000 masks, three hundred of which were donated to hospital workers and local first responders. As for the others, they have requested a $5.00 donation for each mask with the proceeds going directly to OHF. They have vowed to keep making them “as long as there is a demand and the availability of supplies” Bastug said.

The family feels privileged to give back to the organization that has done so much for them and to assist them on the road to finding a cure.

“We are proud to help others who are in the same position we were in awaiting a transplant,” said Bastug. The team hoped that they have also provided a sense of comfort and safety for those going out in public with the added extra barrier their masks provide.

Team Teodora masks have been sent to people all over the country. The team feels they have managed to turn a scary and terrible world crisis into an opportunity to make a difference in the fight against oxalosis and hyperoxaluria.

If anyone is in need of a mask feel free to reach out to Sevandzek@hotmail.com.

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Making the best of these difficult days. But thankfully writing these articles has made it easier and kept my mind busy on other things.