Terri Oppenheimer and her team of ‘Makers’ donate 630 masks to Aleph



TERRI HEIMANN OPPENHEIMER

TERRI HEIMANN OPPENHEIMER

Terri Heimann Oppenheimer’s response to the mask shortage made headlines back in March, when, inspired by a segment on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” she spearheaded an international team of over 100 “makers” via Facebook to handsew masks for distribution at Virtua, Lions Gate, the City of Camden, and the National Guard. “We will be doing this indefinitely,” she said at the time. “As long as there’s a need and we have materials, we’ll do it.”

As the pandemic continued, Oppenheimer rallied sewing experts to create and donate masks free of charge to those in need of them—particularly vulnerable populations like the elderly and infirm, such as those served by Aleph Home Care and Day Center.

“Aleph aides needed masks to go to homes of our clients or to senior communities,” said Robyn Kaplan, director of Aleph. “At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, masks were scarce.”

Hearing of the shortage, word got to Oppenheimer through her Facebook page. “Someone sent a message saying I should reach out to Robyn Kaplan, so I did,” said Oppenheimer.

“Terri instantly said, ‘Absolutely,’” said Kaplan. “She had the masks done immediately for Aleph and continued to reach out and make masks for us sometimes multiple times in the week. She was like our superhero.”

Oppenheimer and her volunteer “makers” ultimately donated 630 masks to Aleph, roughly 10% of their total distribution of 7,000 masks, along with a number of others to Jewish Federation. “Everything was done from my front porch,” Oppenheimer said. “People were picking up materials, dropping them off, donating supplies. I haven’t met the majority of mask makers in person, only through Facebook Messenger and Gmail. The same is true with the recipients.”

“It goes to show that you don’t have to meet a person face to face to make a significant impact on their life. I could never thank Terri enough for her kindness,” said Kaplan. “Our aides were so grateful. She gave us the reassurance that our staff would be safe while in the field. Her masks ensured that our aides remained protected. Her kindness truly touched the entire Aleph team.”

Looking back on the mask initiative, which has now come to an end, “it was one of the best things I’ve ever done,” said Oppenheimer. “And I did it completely unintentionally. I went from, ‘I can sew a few masks’ to coordinating a whole movement.” She notes that the success of the effort was the combination of community support and the desire of individual people to offer help.

Oppenheimer refused to take any funds for the program, but instead asked for donations of supplies. Once, she told a volunteer who was anxious to help that she was in need of Ziploc bags. “Literally within an hour, I had eight boxes of Ziploc bags sitting on my front stoop,” Oppenheimer said. Another donor from North Carolina sent a case of specialized fabric they had read was impermeable by the virus to be used for masks. “That box cost hundreds of dollars and the person wouldn’t identify themselves,” said Oppenheimer.

“Everybody has a way to help even if they think they can’t,” she continued. “There’s no such thing as too small a contribution. This pandemic has left everyone feeling incredibly helpless. I think that I did just as much good by giving people a concrete way that they could participate against this plague. And that they could walk away feeling like they had helped.”

You can make a tribute donation to Jewish Federation’s COVID-19 Response Fund in honor of Terri Oppenheimer or your own Hometown Hero by visiting jewishsouthjersey.org/covid19, emailing help@jfedsnj.org, or calling (856) 673-2554. If you have your own Hometown Hero who is working with the JFED family to help support the community during this time, let us know!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *