OLYPHANT, Pa. — Krysta Saar keeps busy with her schoolwork on Google Classroom, and she has a new project, one she assigned herself.
"Because I want this coronavirus to end, I just want it to be over with."
Krysta's days look a little different than most 12-year-olds, now that she's using her arts and crafts skills to make a difference.
"My grandma taught me when I was really little, then I got my first sewing machine, so I just started right away," said Krysta.
When Krysta heard about the shortage of masks, she decided to take it into her own hands and make them herself.
'When I found out you could actually make them, I found a video on YouTube, and I just followed that," Krysta said.
Krysta has made more than 300 masks all by herself. She has donated them to the Wright Center, nursing homes, and local police and fire departments.
One delivery was extra special.
"She gave me a little hint she was doing something for the fire department, and I said 'what?'" said Olyphant Fire Chief Dave Tully.
Krysta's dad is a member of the Olyphant Excelsior Hose Company #1, so she made sure the volunteers there had the batch sewn with extra love.
"Right after I picked it up, we had our first call, and I got to wear my mask, she made me a personalized one. Chief 26," Tully said.
Krysta is in 6th grade at Mid Valley Elementary Center, so while she's not in school right now, she thinks the mask-making is a great way to pass her time.
"From start to finish if I was just making one, about 20 minutes. I do them in big batches," Krysta explained.
Krysta's parents help with the cutting, but that's about it, everything else is all her. Her mom says she could not be more proud.
"We've been asking people to take pictures with the masks, and we're putting a scrapbook together for her, so she has that memory of what she did and how many people she helped," Krysta's mom, Angela, said.
Krysta has been accepting donations to buy more materials. She says she will keep making the masks as long as people keep needing them.