Stepping up during COVID-19: Brooke Sass has found 9,000 ways to help

Frontline workers who wear a mask all day know it can be a pain. Literally.

Long shifts have left front-line workers sore from mask straps looping around their ears. Fortunately for these folks, necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

Enter Brooke Sass.

Like countless other unsung heroes emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brooke Sass just wanted to help out. Using a Cricut machine, found in craft stores, she created plastic straps (which fit behind the head) onto which the mask straps can be fastened.

Sass uses a template, and plastic file folders, to make the straps. After the pieces are cut, three of them are melted together to strengthen the strap. The whole process is relatively quick: six minutes to cut the pieces; 30 seconds to merge them together.

What started as a favour for a cousin who works in the ER at McMaster Children's Hospital, has grown rapidly. After that first order of 75, Brooke asked her cousin to share them around, and she took to social media as well. Turns out, the ear savers, which can be sanitized easily and reused, were a hit.

So far, she has made more than 3,000, and has requests for another 6,000 with interest from as far away as B.C. and Texas.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Sass is using three machines to keep up with demand. A worker in the education field, she has found a way to keep busy in these difficult times.

I'm doing this to spread kindness and to let everybody know that we are all in this together," says Sass. Not all of us are able to be on the front lines working with the pandemic. It's nice to be behind the scenes and let front-line workers know we are thinking about them."

Barry Gray is a Hamilton-based photojournalist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: bgray@thespec.com