Longtime Indian Lake Middle School teacher Jana Core is combining her love of sewing and public service to help keep officers and others safe.
With the help of her husband, Washington Township Police Department Chief Rick Core, she has created and shipped more than 1,700 cloth face masks to law enforcement officers and their families all across the country in response to the COVID-19 health crisis. And they are not done yet.
As a veteran teacher of 22 years, Mrs. Core said after she became accustomed to online teaching in the spring, she started dabbling in mask-making.
“We’d been in shutdown for about a month and it occurred to me that sometimes officers need masks for their job when dealing closely with people. So I made masks for all the Washington Township officers and I sent some to my son who is in law enforcement in North Carolina,” she explained.
“I’d do a Zoom meeting with my students, grade assignments and answer e-mails, then sew a mask or two.”
But since school ended in May, making masks has become something of a second full-time job.
“I posted my masks on a Facebook group called Blue Line Wives and oh my gosh, it’s just blown up from there,” Mrs. Core said.
The Blue Line Wives group ordered hundreds. The ILMS teacher said her black masks featuring a blue line for law enforcement, a red line for firefighters, a yellow line for dispatchers, a white line for emergency responders or a gray line for the military are the most popular.
Locally, she has made masks for the Bellefontaine Police Department and Dayton Police Detectives Unit.
Currently, Mrs. Core is sewing masks for police families in Hawaii and Alaska. She estimates she has sent masks to law enforcement officers and their families in nearly all 50 states.
For his part, Chief Core surprised his wife with a new sewing machine for Mother’s Day.
He also agreed to pay for the materials needed and cover the shipping costs for this project, meaning all of these masks are provided at no charge.
“People are just so appreciative,” Chief Core said. “It’s nice knowing that I can help people get something that they really need right now.”
With Governor Mike DeWine’s new mask order for all Ohioans while out in public, Mrs. Core knows the rest of her summer will be just as busy.
From her own Facebook page and Messenger, she has orders for at least 300 more masks. Many orders are for students who, like her, will be headed back to school this fall where masks are recommended.
“They (the kids) can pick what fabric they want and if that’s what it takes to make them feel better about wearing it, then the effort is worth it!”
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JANA CORE
