In the midst of a pandemic, when Arizonans were told to mask up, disposable masks at stores were hard to come by. A San Tan Valley resident decided to take matters into her own hands.
When masks stock was low, Laura Ouellette saw opportunity and decided to make reusable masks to sell to her community.
“People were willing to pay big money for these disposable masks,” Ouellete said. “I saw a few people making masks, so I looked up how to make them because there was such a great need.”
Although she’s retired, Ouellete worked nine hour days, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., creating masks that she sold on Facebook and at the San Tan Valley Farmers Market & Bazaar. While the market didn’t allow other vendors for safety reasons during the pandemic, Ouellete was allowed to sell masks.
Although she worked full-time hours, Ouellete didn’t price the masks to make a profit.
“It cost maybe a dollar. It was something that was needed, it wasn’t something that I needed to be greedy about,” she said.
While masks were hard to find, Ouellette discovered at times that the fabric to make it was too. Once, she had to order fabric from Etsy since Joann Fabric and Craft Store was always out of stock.
“They were also out of elastic and fabric, that was almost impossible to come by,” Ouellete said. “So I had to look online to find a substitute for the elastic.”
While Ouellette doesn’t make masks anymore, she does sell jams and jellies at the San Tan Valley Farmers Market & Bazaar on the second Saturday of every month. She'll be there this Saturday, Nov. 12, beginning at 7 a.m. at 40815 N. Ironwood Drive. Parking is at the northeast corner of Ironwood Drive and Ocotillo Road.
