By Brett Milam
Editor
While mostly everyone is staying at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, that doesn’t mean we can’t do our part to help. 
Kris Spurgeon, a Milford resident for 13 years, who is an intervention specialist for kindergarten through sixth grade at Sands Montessori School for Cincinnati Public Schools, stepped up to do her part.
“My family has a long history of being ‘fixers’ and inventing things to help solve a problem,” she said. “We also have several nurses in my family; my mom’s retired from Hospice of Cincinnati.”
Spurgeon also has a love of fiber arts, which parlays nicely into making cloth coverings for nurses and first responders.
The biggest drive came from being a mom and teacher and that desire to “make it better,” she said.
“I stepped up to do this because I knew I had the fiber knowledge and research ability to make something to help,” she said. “I’ve spent years learning about fibers and textiles (processing, spinning, knitting, sewing) as a hobby, and I’m glad I can apply that knowledge to help make the most protective homemade mask possible.”
She added, “I know the face masks aren’t the bandage and a kiss from mom that can make it all better, but it feels good to help as much as I can.”
Spurgeon said the idea for the masks came to her a few days after schools were closed by the governor in early March.
“The first few days of closure were full of stress and anxiety because I had this overwhelming drive to do something, try to fix it, but I know I can’t do much to stop pandemic disease.”
But, she started thinking about the things she could control and the knowledge she had that could make a difference.
“I kept hearing all the reports about medical staff not having protective masks and couldn’t imagine my friends or family treating infected people without some protection,” she said. “I shared the idea with my husband, a professional engineer, and he jumped right in to help with the design.”
Her husband, Andy, researched filter materials, learning the different options, and Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, a system for measuring how to be most effective with an air filter.
“My initial idea was to make masks to distribute to friends and community members who are first responders, medical staff, and immunocompromised,” Spurgeon said.
The masks are made using four layers, two layers of cotton top and bottom, and a layer of cotton flannel and non-woven interfacing. From the outside in, the outermost layer is the decorative layer and also serves as the initial filter, Spurgeon said.
The next layer is the non-woven interfacing, which serves as another layer of filtration. 
“It’s important to have the non-woven construction to break up the predictable matrix of woven fabric,” Spurgeon said.
The next layer is the cotton flannel, which serves as an absorbent layer to wick away moisture. She said the last layer, closest to the face, is made of a high thread count cotton muslin to provide next to skin softness and to create a pocket of filter material to slide in.
“During construction, a plastic coated copper wire is embedded in the top seam to help seal around the nose,” Spurgeon said. “Prior to sewing, elastic is sandwiched in the fabric sack to make straps over the ears.”
The elastic part has proven difficult to find anywhere, Spurgeon said, so they improvised with elastic headbands, which “turn out to be nicer than raw sewing elastic.”
As of the morning of April 7, Spurgeon said she’s made 812 masks and donated over 750 to hospital workers, first responders, nursing homes, and essential workers. Specifically, masks have gone to professionals at Anderson Mercy, Good Sam (NICU, Cardiac Care Unit, and Surgery), Bethesda North, and several medical offices, Spurgeon said.
Nursing homes, such as SEM Vila, Anderson Care Center and several others have also received masks.
In addition, Spurgeon said she’s given masks to the Milford Police Department, Terrace Park Fire Department, and the Deer Park, Sycamore Township, and Cincinnati Police Departments.
The support from the community and donations has been “tremendous,” Spurgeon said. She even created an Amazon wishlist for sewing supplies, and it’s been bought out several times.
“Most people provide a donation to help cover materials, some give extra to pay it forward even more,” she said. “It’s kind of like a drive-thru pay it forward story that’s often shared on social media; someone pays for yours so you pay for someone else’s … see how long we can keep it going.”
It’s not just been Spurgeon and Andy, either. She said her mom, dad, and sister have all jumped right in, as well.
“My mom does some initial sewing, my sister stacks the fabric and elastic, and my dad cuts filters, wire, and care instruction sheets,” she said.
She added, “We’ve been responsible and maintained physical distance by drive by porch drops.”
Her two sons, Alex and Will, have also jumped in to help.
“We’re teaching them to make a difference when you can and they love seeing pictures of people wearing them, knowing that they helped,” Spurgeon said.
Spurgeon said they are using the #ksmasksadifference on Facebook to post more action shots there.
