HOUSTON – A family's Sienna home has been turned into a factory producing facial coverings to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus and to put food on the table.
“We had to feed our families,” Courtney Wyckoff said. “So, we thought, ‘Why not? Let’s give it a try.’”
Courtney Wyckoff is a seamstress and her husband, Micahl, is a photographer. The pandemic caused business to dry up for both and when finances grew tight they looked around, saw all the fabric they had from Courtney’s business and decided to make facial coverings recommended by health officials.
“We have literally like hundreds if not thousands of yards of stock and fabric,” Micahl said. “People need all these masks and we’re making them.”
With posts on social media and now a website, business is booming. In two days, they recently cut 3,500 masks for customers ranging from individuals, small businesses and the military.
"We sent 300 to the navy so far," Micahl Wyckoff said. "We've got an order for 600 for the air force, we got a DOD contractor, a bunch of clinics and stuff."
But their new found trade isn’t only benefitting the Wyckoffs. They’ve hired out-of-work friends -- from bartenders to fellow small business owners -- to cut, sew and ship.
“We’re cutting these down into kind of blanks like this,” said Micahl, explaining the production process. “Then like this and then packaging them up and they’re driving by and we’re throwing a bundle into their car and they’re getting it all done.”
A change of direction career-wise that they also hope will lift the spirits of their new customers.
“I want people to open up a box or package when they get it from us and laugh a little bit,” Micahl said. “Because no one thought they were going to have to buy a mask three or four weeks ago.”
The masks start at $8.
Right now, people can also donate a certain number of masks and each week those donated masks will be sent to a different clinic or charity. First responders and medical professionals can buy the masks at half-price.
You can visit the Wyckoff’s website at www.grabbagmasks.com.
