Around New England

Religious Garments Company Turns To Making Masks

March 28, 2020

A small Massachusetts company that makes vestments, tapestries, and Bible markers has taken up making masks for doctors, nurses, and paramedics during the coronavirus emergency.

Theological Threads, of Beverly, has donated a few thousand masks to hospitals in Boston, Salem, Beverly, and Gloucester and to the police and fire departments in Beverly, according to The Gloucester Daily Times.

Masks have been in short supply since the highly contagious disease led to a huge need for them.

The company was founded in 1976 after a local Roman Catholic pastor put a notice in the church bulletin seeking volunteers to repair vestments a priest wears to celebrate Mass, according to the company’s web site. A woman who responded did such a good job repairing vestments and making new ones that the priest suggested she go into business.

The company’s general manager, Amra Malicbegovic, said the company started making masks earlier this month to try to help people dealing directly with the virus.

“We are a small company just trying to do our part in this crisis,” Malicbegovic said, according to The Gloucester Daily Times.