Photo By Staff Sgt. Tegan Kucera | When making hundreds of masks, organization is key for Senior Airman Leilani Bowles,...... read more read more
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ST. CLAIR, Mich. – There are many people who are stepping up during the pandemic, showing the best of humanity by doing what they can to help others.
When the coronavirus first hit the U.S., wearing a mask was recommended. The governor's current executive order requires masks or face coverings to be worn in enclosed public spaces by anyone who can medically tolerate it. As masks started selling out across the country, one Airmen saw this and knew it was her opportunity to help during this pandemic.
“There’s a whole lot of people that are not getting a paycheck or who’ve lost their jobs, so they don’t have the money for the personal protective equipment. I thought, all right, I’ll just make a 100 of them for now. I did that, and word got out from there,” said Senior Airman Leilani Bowles.
A human resources assistant with the 127th Force Support Squadron based out of Selfridge air National Guard Base, Michigan, Bowles started out wanting to make 100 masks for friends, family, and neighbors. She has now made over 1,500 of the masks in the last six weeks. She has been making them for people at nursing homes and local shops to help her community.
“People need help. I’m blessed to have a job and collect a paycheck, but a lot of people don’t,” said Bowles. “A lot of folks here aren’t protected when they go out to the grocery store, and I knew it was required to wear the masks, and many places had sold out.”
Bowles saw the need her community had, and she is shipping her masks to seven different states. She is a part-time seamstress who loves quilting and sewing, so she already had a craft room and the skill.
Bowles grudgingly accepts donations and has been able to break even with the money she has spent, but she has put more than 230 hours into making masks during the past several weeks.
“I love giving back to the community. I love to give and there are a lot of people who could use a little extra help,” said Bowles. “In times like this we need to reach out to people and we need to help them if we’re able to. It’s part of being human, as corny as that sounds. It’s part of being a community.”
Part of Bowles’s community is the Air National Guard. Once she put the word out about what she was doing onto social media and told her office, many of her friends and colleagues from the guard asked if she could make them masks. Then came the commanders, who wished to supply their Airmen with the proper protective equipment.
“We really didn’t have any supply of masks on hand, ready to execute something like this,” said Col. James Rossi. “We needed to find some options to provide to our service members that need to be out there on a day-to-day basis getting our missions done.”
Rossi, the commander of the 127th Air Refueling Group, heard about what Bowles was doing because her husband is in his unit. He has ordered over 200 masks from her and couldn’t be more thankful, because the majority of his wing cannot telecommute.
“We couldn’t be more appreciative of what her and her family are doing for us because the masks look professional,” said Rossi.
By now Rossi isn’t the only commander in the Air National Guard to order masks. Most of them have asked Bowles to make some for their units. Due to her making so many and spending so many hours working on this project, her husband and son have joined her in the effort, because they wanted to spend more time with her and do their part. Her son cuts the elastic and her husband cuts the fabric. Simple things they can all do together as a family.
“It highlights that ‘we’re all in this together.’ She’s not looking for any money. It’s a selfless thing,” said Rossi. “She knows there’s a need out there and she’s filling that need. It highlights the awesome people we have in the Air National Guard.”
Service before self is one of the core values of the Air Force. Bowles epitomizes that value. She is spending the majority of her free time to help others because she wants to, and she knows this is the most productive way.
“These are particularly challenging times. The fact that we’ve got somebody stepping up that is offering a solution is really appreciated. We’re all one family, one fight, and one team all trying to get the job done safely.”
Personal protective equipment helps to keep everyone safe during the pandemic, and Bowles is doing her part to help her community, but also for her service because she is an Airmen through and through.
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2020 17:44 |
| Story ID: | 368949 |
| Location: | ST. CLAIR, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 211 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Selflessness in the midst of a pandemic, by SSG Tegan Kucera, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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