SEWcial Distancing Club makes masks

FISHER’S LANDING EAST — What started out as a small effort by two local women to make masks during the pandemic swelled over the course of a month. The SEWcial Distancing Club now has more than 400 members on Facebook, who so far have donated more than 8,000 masks to 100 local organizations, according to an email from one of the group’s founders, Barbara Rogers. “The real story of this group is not so much the number of masks that have been created — although that in and of itself is incredible — but of how it has helped members overcome feelings of depression, anxiety and helplessness, and given them a way to channel that pent-up quarantine energy,” Rogers said. She said they rely completely on donations. There are now three mask pick-up and drop-off sites in the area: 15613 N.E. 15th Circle, Vancouver; 4816 N.E. 49th Ave., Vancouver; and 4584 N. Ninth St., Ridgefield. “So much of what’s going on in our world right now feels out of control. But this is one small way I can help,” said group member Amber Wright. Find the group on Facebook to learn more.