A team of Tri-State seamstresses was determined to help isolated foster children reconnect with their biological parents during COVID-19.
"We kind of called ourselves the Rosie Riveters of the new age,” said Rose Stertz. "It gives us a purpose everyday as we stay at home and do this."
A few weeks ago, Commissioner Denise Driehaus told Stertz that Hamilton County's 1,800 foster children needed masks. Without them, the kids couldn't visit biological parents or go out in public.
Stertz’s team of volunteers didn’t miss a stitch, sewing love into each one.
"My group is from Cleves and Finneytown and Delhi and wherever they come from they hear about us and want to join our group," said Stertz.
Eight went to work collecting donated threads, hard-to-get elastic bands, and colorful fabric kids might wear. They even turned it into a competition.
"As a seamstress, the one who dies with the most fabric wins,” said Stertz. “Well, four of us we're in competition for first place."
They're also friends of the same cloth who sew hope into every box before delivery.
"We say a prayer for the children that we're sewing for and wish them well and hope their life can keep going in the right direction," Stertz said.
They've delivered masks to all but 100 of the counties’ foster children and will not to stop until all have one.
