Creede, CO Students Print 3D Mask Extenders for Hospital
Students at Creede Schools enrolled in the 3D printing class worked to create surgical mask straps to donate to their area hospital and wrote accompanying letters of appreciation to show support to their front-line workers.
In these challenging times, our cooperative principle of Concern for Community has greater meaning than ever before. Across our cooperative family, amazing work is being done by businesses, organizations, and individuals to support our communities in this time of need. As part of this series, we highlight those outstanding people who have gone above and beyond.
San Luis Valley REC serves the town of Creede, Colo., where a local elementary class wanted to help front-line workers at the area's regional hospital. The 3D printing course instructor and her students worked to create surgical mask straps and wrote personal letters of appreciation for hospital staff.
To learn how this small school and the community of Creede helped support their front-line workers, watch the video below.
How Creede, CO Students Assisted Local Medical Staff
"When this all first started, and the hospitals ramped up their protection, you know, every day, my husband was wearing the masks, and his ears were hurting."
Student: Dear doctors and nurses, I love that you're helping people in need like those with the virus.
Michelle: Creede Elementary School is very small, and we're very close-knit because of it. The community and the school are partners and work well together. We have great parental support.
Lori: When this all first started, and the hospitals ramped up their protection, you know, every day, my husband was wearing the masks, and his ears were hurting.
Michelle: So Lori Heinrich works at school with me. She had messaged me and asked me, "could we print out surgical mask straps to help with the hospital personnel ear irritations?" And I said, "sure, why not?" I wanted to make sure kids were involved. 3d printing can teach kids mathematics like spatial reasoning. It can also teach them that whenever you create something, you create it for a reason. And then the kids wrote letters of appreciation to accompany our strap delivery.
Lori: We are headed to the hospital from Creede School to deliver our handy little mask straps.
"Its awesome, and thank you, and it is really helped and just makes the job a little easier." "I just wanted to say thank you, it makes wearing a mask all day way more comfortable." - Creede, CO Doctors
Creede Student: Dear doctors and nurses,
You guys are great at keeping us safe. Thank you for making sure we get the help we need. You guys are like heroes in the sky. I hope these mask straps help you in all of the ways that they can. And in scary times, it's comforting to know that we have hard-working people ready to take care of us at any time. I will be praying for you all to stay safe and healthy as you care for our community. Sincerely, Lexi Mink
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Tri-State is a power supply cooperative, operating on a not-for-profit basis, serving electric distribution cooperatives and public power district member-owners in four states. Together with our members, we deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to more than a million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles of the West. Visit www.tristate.coop.