Australian Teacher Leads Mask-Making Initiative to Mobilize Global Support for Iraqi Children Facing COVID-19 Crisis

From the Gold Coast of Australia, former school teacher Maria McRae, her family, and neighbors have designed, stitched, and delivered 1,160 beautiful, face masks to raise support for Iraqi children facing the COVID-19 crisis half a world away. 

“When COVID-19 started, we were experimenting to see if we could make safe and effective masks for ourselves, but then we saw an opportunity to make this bigger than ourselves,” said Maria, whose daughter, Elizabeth McRae, works for the Iraqi Children Foundation, a charity for orphans and street children. “By using the sewing skills I already have, making masks for people was a great way to fundraise for this worthy cause.”

Word of the colorfully-designed face masks spread globally and orders poured in from fellow Australians, Americans, and others in Portugal, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Canada, New Zealand, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Singapore. All Maria asked in exchange for the coveted masks:  “Spread the love,” she said, asking each one to support the vulnerable orphans and street children impacted by COVID-19.  

With the support of Maria’s mask project, the Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF) has raised over USD $50,000 to bring desperately needed relief to needy children and families facing quarantine at home.  Schools closed in mid-March, city curfews were imposed, and parents began to lose jobs.  Some sent their children back to the streets to beg, and abuse and violence in the home began to climb.

With support from Maria’s mask project, ICF has already provided 939 packages of food and critical hygiene supplies, each one supporting a family of five for a week. More deliveries are planned, with the goal of expanding critical assistance to families impacted by COVID-19.  Teachers and social workers at two ICF-sponsored “Hope Buses,” make weekly visits to their students, bringing school work to their homes and assessing the welfare of the children.  

Commenting on the impact of her project, Maria said:  "I love the fact that with ICF, I know that the money we raised goes directly to helping children and families. During COVID, this is more important than ever. We were seeing donations being quickly and directly used to provide food and hygiene supplies to families in Iraq...Seeing photos and people receiving support on the ground was empowering…"

The McRae mask-making team included Maria’s husband Robert who helped with packaging and post office runs, professional acrobat Robbie, and daughter Anna, who pitched in to help with mask assembly, neighbors Pat and Peter, who took on the tasks of ironing and cutting, and nearby Barb and Tony who helped with the assembly.  Maria’s sister, George, who lives on a farm, sent fabric and elastic, and Robert’s sister Heather helped source elastics amidst an Australia-wide shortage.  

"We had a great team and it's been wonderful to see people all over the world learning about ICF. We never thought we would be able to reach so many people, and we have been thankful for the generosity of so many donors."

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The Iraqi Children Foundation intervenes with love and hope in the lives of children at risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by criminals, traffickers, and extremists.  It does so by providing legal protection, psychosocial services, nutrition, and education to orphans, street kids, and other vulnerable children.  For more information or to donate, visit www.iraqichildren.org.