They have got you covered

Heather Goddard/Contributing Writer
Posted 4/15/20

LUSK – Shirley Zumbrunnen, Shirley Wadkins, Melody Zumbrunnen, Gracie Zumbrunnen, Emily Zumbrunnen, and Levi Zumbrunnen have together made almost 1,200 medical face masks. This is averaging 200 masks per person in a little over three weeks.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

They have got you covered

Posted

LUSK – Shirley Zumbrunnen, Shirley Wadkins, Melody Zumbrunnen, Gracie Zumbrunnen, Emily Zumbrunnen, and Levi Zumbrunnen have together made almost 1,200 medical face masks. This is averaging 200 masks per person in a little over three weeks.
Okay, well since Levi is six that’s probably not true, but he has definitely held his own in a family project that has grown from wanting to help out a few people to providing needed supplies for people all over the country.
When medical centers, hospital and emergency service providers began to experience shortages in masks Zumbrunnen, a trained nurse herself, realized that her family could contribute in a real way. She, her mom and her children are all skilled seamstresses thanks to years of 4-H and personal projects. They also already had experience sewing face masks from previously needing them because of a family member’s illness.

With many stores and organizations offering up fabric and face mask kits to be sewn Zumbrunnens got to work. And the project just grew from there. When they heard that Wyoming Medical Center needed masks they didn’t hesitate. And they didn’t send just a few. Their first shipment to WMC consisted of ten dozen masks for staff.
The older two Zumbrunnen children, Melody and Gracie attend Wyoming Virtual Academy and Emily and Levi are home schooled and their mom works at home so they were able to squeeze in a few hours of sewing a day, to the tune of four dozen masks completed per day.
Once word got out there was someone sewing not just a handful but dozens the requests rolled in. Zumbrunnens have now provided masks for the local hospital, Niobrara Community Hospital, Ivinson in Laramie, Wyoming Medical Center and numerous police stations, first responders and clinics as far away as Arizona and Wisconsin. They have also provided masks to individuals that request them. Even Jack, Shirley’s dad has gotten in on the action acting as their delivery man and postmaster ensuring the masks get where they need to go.
The Zumbrunnen family lives on a ranch North of Lusk and are not strangers to hard work. They raise bulls and seed stock heifers and have always had a strong sense of community. As with many ranchers, when the going gets tough they dig in and work harder which is exactly what they did when COVID-19 began to overwhelm the medical community. Even with the cattle market unstable and uncertain. Zumbrunnens have continued to focus on the things they are blessed with and try to reach out to those that don’t have what they do.
If someone is interested in supporting the Zumbrunnen’s project they can contact Shirley Zumbrunnen. Donations of fabric or postage costs are welcomed.