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Where There Is Bad There Is Always Good

We know that you are well aware of all that is happening in our world, our nation and our state regarding the coronavirus. The local statistics are certainly alarmingly grim, a daily reminder of the necessity to stay at home and lessen the chances of catching the disease.

St. James Parish people are known for their generosity and genuine goodness during tough times. This was proven after hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, sickness, accidents and even death.

Among many others, two local women, one on each side of the river, are using their talents and energy to provide a service to medical professionals while this virus has our supply storage running dangerously empty.

We would like to highlight more of the good news in our community, the special things that individuals and families do to brighten someone’s day or make someone feel special. Please call us with the contact information.

Veronica Granier

Veronica Granier is very aware of the importance of community. Fourteen years ago, when her 15-year old daughter was battling cancer, the people of Vacherie and surrounding areas helped them in a profound way.

“I will never forget the kindness that people showed us,” Veronica remembers. “So, whenever I can, I use my sewing ability to give back.”

That’s why, when she received a request from nurse practitioner Tiffany Simon to make a few masks for her and her co-workers in Baton Rouge, Veronica was happy to respond.

“After I made one, I posted on my Facebook page, letting healthcare workers know that I would be making them and, if they needed one, to private message me their requests. Within a few hours, I had requests for about 100. Four days later, I had requests for right at 200. I was assembly-line-sewing them and, after looking at the stack of cut out and partially assembled masks, I began to feel overwhelmed at not being able to produce these in a timely manner. They needed to get out as soon as possible, so I asked for help through Facebook,” Veronica continued.

“Almost immediately, several friends offered to help. Those who couldn’t sew offered to cut fabric or iron. We had a team of eleven women who got to work. In a little over a week, we were able to provide just over 300 fabric masks,” she said.

“These masks are meant to be worn over the scarce N95 masks that healthcare workers are being required to use. Some have to take their N95’s home and reuse them the next day. These fabric masks are meant to help extend the use of the N95’s by helping to keep them cleaner than if the N95’s are worn alone.”

Veronica is a seamstress. She sews specialty items, girls’ dresses and so much more. “Since I sew for a living, I have ample fabric on hand that I had previously purchased,” added Veronica. “It was convenient that I didn’t have to go out to fabric stores. I just pulled fabric from my shelves and got to work.”

“All I asked was for postage costs,” continued Grainer. “I graciously accepted donations that helped with the expense of fabric, trim, zippered bags, poly-mailers, ink, tape and paper for the labels. I received a donation to help with postage and that allowed me to mail quite a number of packages at no cost to the receivers.”

Veronica expresses heartfelt gratitude to the members of her sewing team: Amanda Breaud, Elaine Falgoust, Annie Falgoust, Pat Becnel, Catherine Hymel, Charlene Gravois, Molly Grobe, Mary Zeringue Wrigley, and Corrine and Shelby Breaud. “Without their help, the number of masks made would not nearly have been as much,” said Veronica.

Veronica is married to Clayton Granier and they are the parents of four adult children. She and her team continue to provide the masks on a limited asneeded basis.

Linda Roussel

Lutcher resident and seamstress Linda Roussel has been sewing all of her life. Over the years she has sewn wedding and carnival ball dresses, various types of clothing and many, many other things.

She still uses the sewing machine her husband Timmy, her childhood sweetheart, gave her as a gift when she turned sixteen.

Like Granier, Linda is using her sewing talents and skills to help fight the coronavirus.

When Linda’s daughterin-law Regina, a nurse in Baton Rouge, told her a story about her mother, who was recently admitted into the hospital for something other than the coronavirus.

Linda learned that the nurse taking care of her was given only one mask for the entire shift. Moved by that story, Linda started to explore ways to possibly help.

Using social media, Linda quickly found a way to help by using her sewing machine to extend the lifespan of the N95 facemasks. Roussel said she initially made six dozens of mask covers and donated all of them to Oschner Hospital in Baton Rouge,

Word quickly spread around town and she started to make them for family members who are at higher risk, sent some to the local nursing home, and is now making covers for several neighbors and friends.

Linda said at one point during production, she began to run low on elastic. After searching local stores and not wanting to travel much in search of new stock, she reached out to her Facebook friends to see if anyone had any elastic.

“You probably won’t believe me, but I even got a bag of elastic from the old TG&Y store in Gramercy,” said Linda. “And the elastic was still in very good condition.”

Linda says when she is in her groove, she can produce a mask cover every 10 minutes. She is very grateful she has found a way to contribute.

Keep up the great work!

News Examiner-Enterprise

2290 Texas St.
Lutcher, LA 70071
PH: (225) 869-5784