Kristina Hoffmann wasn’t quite planning on turning into a mask- and scrub-hat maker, but that’s what happened as living in the age of COVID-19 required everyone to wear protective gear. 

The Wilmington University alumna of the College of Business says she pulled out her sewing machine and got to work using material she had in the house.

“It started off with helping family and making sure they were protected,” says Hoffmann, who made masks for her husband (also an essential worker), her two 7-year-old sons, her parents and her brother and his wife.

Then people at her workplace at Queenstown Bank in Queenstown, Maryland, found out she was making masks, and so she was suddenly making more for several of her co-workers.

And after she posted a picture on Facebook, Hoffmann started getting more requests. “Word spread,” she says.

She couldn’t say no, so she ordered more fabric and tie ribbons from a local shop, cut them, and kept sewing.

A request for matching scrub hats came from a group of nurses, and so she learned to make those as well.

Working mostly in the evenings and weekends, she put together each mask or hat in 20 to 30 minutes. Hoffmann says that the masks are made of two layers of cotton fabric and one layer of flannel, plus a pocket for an extra filter and a bendable nose piece for a better fit. “Especially for hospital staff,” she adds. Hoffmann says she’s made over 100 masks and 15 scrub hats.

She just received a Paypal Unsung Hero award for, as noted in the citation, “going above and beyond to help people during this difficult time.”

Hoffmann holds a B.S. in Organizational Management, cum laude, which she earned in 2019.