Local Crafter Puts Talent To Work To Fight Coronavirus

WAUKESHA, WI — A crafter's touch, and a mother's empathy were all Jenn Collins of Waukesha needed when she learned how she could help health care workers during the coronavirus public health emergency.

On a normal day, Collins uses a laser cutter to create wooden signs that she sells on Etsy. These days, her design studio - a collection of work benches, stacks of material, a computer workstation and the laser cutter - is a production hub for making s-hooks, small plastic parts that fasten a protective face mask more effectively than a standard elastic band.

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One day, she was on Facebook when one of her friends who works in health care posted that her ears were hurting her from wearing a face mask during a long shift at a local hospital.

The masks, which use an elastic band, were rubbing health care workers ears raw, she said. Collins said she learned s-hooks could alleviate that problem. The s-hooks allow the masks to hook along the back of the head and take the pressure off the ears.

"It is a small thing but any bit of comfort we can give our front line workers is a good thing," she told Patch. Not only do the s-hooks ease the pain, but they also fit better, allowing medical workers to pull the masks tighter for a better seal.

She found a pattern, and with the help of her 10-year-old son Jack, a fourth grader at Waukesha STEM Academy, they converted the studio into an s-hook factory of sorts.

Collins found a pattern, tested the design and set before long her laser cutter was dutifully slicing through clear acrylic. She mailed a few hooks out last week and received immediate feedback.

"One friend messaged me to say that she had been at work an hour and all of her coworkers wanted them. She asked me to make 50. Those should arrive for her this week," she said.

The request for hooks spread quickly. So far Collins has sent s-hooks to local places, as well as to New York, California, Washington, Florida, and 15 other states.

She ran out of acrylic this weekend but has 40 more sheets coming this week to ramp up production again.

"I have requests for hundreds more in my inbox," she said. "The 20 sheets I purchased last week lasted all of two days because I had so many requests."

She's still taking requests.

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By The Numbers:

1,100

Number of s-hooks made

$270.80

Amount of postage spent

$190.80

Amount of acrylic used

57

Number of packages used

20

Number of states where hooks were sent.

How To Find Her

Collins said she's posting regular updates on Facebook.