NEISD first-grader sews masks to keep workers safe

First-grader Dillon Knadler pulled out a letter he wrote to his Hardy Oak Elementary School teacher for her birthday.

“Dear Ms. Getman, I want to tell you something good. I helped my mom sew face masks to give to hospitals to help workers stay safe,” he read.

With his classroom off limits due to Covid-19, Dillon and his mom Jackie Knadler, were hoping to find a way to celebrate her in a special way.

“I came across the Facebook page for ‘San Antonio Masks For Heroes’ and it’s run by an organization called the ‘Mitchell Chang Foundation.’ They have bins where you can go and drop off the masks and they take care of all the work. They clean them, they sanitize them and they drop them off at the hospitals,” Jackie explained.

So, she and Dillon pulled out their family sewing machine and decided to make face masks to be donated in his teacher’s honor.Jackie said Ms. Getman told them it was the best birthday gift ever.

Dillon said it takes about twenty minutes to sew each mask.

“I wanted to do it to keep people safe from getting the virus and I wanted to do something kind,” Dillon said.

Jackie said they are still adjusting to distance-learning but she’s enjoyed using the extra time to teach Dillon the new skill and work on a project together.

“It also gave us a chance to talk about what’s going on with the virus, what’s going on in the community and the world, and it kind of made it less scary for him that he could make a difference,” Jackie added.

Dillon has donated twenty masks so far and hopes those who receive them will feel the love stitched into each and every one.

“I hope they feel excited, happy, glad,” he said.

“A small thing, a small act of kindness can make a big difference. It was a small act on Dillon’s part to make twenty masks, but I just read last night that ‘San Antonio Masks For Heroes’ has collected more than 5,000 masks around the community. If everybody does their small part and works together, it makes a big impact,” Jackie said.

It’s an impact that’s making all the difference, because #NEISDcares!