SIMPLE as it may, but top swimming official Lanie Velasco is doing her own little way to help fellow Filipinos in these trying times of the coronavirus pandemic.
The president of the Philippine Swimming Inc. (PSI) is making personally woven face masks which she distributes for free to friends, family, village guards, nurses, and health workers.
Of late, Velasco has also given masks to his doctor friends for distribution in two hospitals around Metro Manila.
The swimming executive has turned the family garage into her workplace the past three weeks or so in the hope of producing more in the coming weeks as the entire Luzon remains under Enhanced Community Quarantine.
“So far I’ve sewn and donated 230 masks. And I’ve just finished 30 more masks to be sent to a hospital in Bacolod,” she said on Thursday.
“It’s the least I can do. We all need to do our share in times like this.”
Velasco has owned a uniform business since 2004 and decided to use it for a different purpose especially in this time of pandemic.
“My mom taught me how to sew once upon a time which is why I started a uniform business in 2004,” Velasco said. “Sewing and praying gives me memories of my mother, something I find myself doing lots of these days. For the last two weeks we’ve all have lots of time on our hands, and this is my way of staying productive.”
The face masks are made out from the extra fixed bedsheets Velasco have in her house, which she made sure are well sanitized before they are distributed.
“I make sure they are all washed and dried in a dryer before I give them away,” she said.
Producing face masks is the latest assistance Velasco has extended in helping the country overcome the pandemic.
She earlier facilitated the mattresses donated by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to the Philippine Pediatric Society.
But the PSI prexy is having trouble producing more masks with needed materials, specifically garter, running out of supply.
“My wish is that stores carrying materials we need can open and supply us with garters and other materials,” Velasco said. “I’m sure that there are other people who are willing to do something for our frontliners,”
“It is important to care for one another while staying safe as our family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors navigate COVID-19. Individual act of kindness proves that love and humanity will win over the coronavirus. These acts of kindness will sustain us through this pandemic.”
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