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8-Year-Old Sews Masks And Donates Profit To Animal Shelter

Written by: Molly Weinfurter
Molly Weinfurter is a writer for iHeartDogs, and she’s passionate about helping animals in need. She volunteers for Bailing Out Benji and a local dog rescue.Read more
| Published on May 15, 2020

Lando Aldridge, an 8-year-old boy in Alabama, has a strong passion for helping animals. Two years ago, Lando learned to use a sewing machine. Despite being so young, he found that he actually had an amazing talent for it. So, he started sewing hats to sell to people, and he donated all the profits to Sanctuary Animal Rescue. Once the COVID-19 pandemic began, Lando came up with another idea for his business. He decided to sew masks for medical workers. Many of the masks would be donated, but if anyone wanted to buy some or pay to be a sponsor, Lando would donate that money to the shelter.

So far, Lando has donated over 40 masks to nurses, and he has received over 250 orders for masks too. Plus, he has received plenty of positive responses for his work. Many people wouldn’t expect masks made by an 8-year-old to be good quality, but they’re even better than what most adults could make!

Image: @helpkitties/Facebook

Masks for Medical Workers

Adding onto his original project, “Hats for Cats”, Lando created “Masks for Medical Workers”. Once the COVID-19 pandemic began, his mom wanted to be honest with him about what was going on in the world. So, she kept him informed about news stories.

“I field any questions he has and we discuss things so it might not be so scary,” said Francie Ann Vono-Aldridge, Lando’s mom. “He came to me Thursday, March 26th, and said, ‘Mom, I want to sew masks to help out. We can give them to medical people and maybe people will donate money for a mask and we can give that money to Sanctuary Animal Rescue.'”

Image: @helpkitties/Facebook

Lando and his mom talked about his idea even further to make sure he was serious about it. He was already making hats to help animals in need, so his new idea wasn’t a shock to his mom. Soon, they began their new project.

For the masks, Lando’s mom cuts out the patterns and pins them together. Then, Lando takes care of all the sewing. The fabric they use has previously been donated to them. With the two of them working together, they are able to make lots of beautiful masks to help people and animals.

Buy a Mask, Save a Dog!

Lando will continue to donate masks to medical workers who need them, but he is also selling to the public too. It costs $3 for a kid mask and $4 for an adult mask. So far, he has been able to donate over $1,000 to the animal shelter.

Image: @helpkitties/Facebook

“I hope that I inspire others to help others and help everyone in the world,” said Lando.

He might only be 8 years old, but he already has more kindness and empathy than many adults have. He truly is an inspiration to people of all ages.

If you would like to order some of Lando’s masks, you can fill out this form or check out his updates on Facebook.

H/T: shelbycountyreporter.com
Featured Image: @helpkitties/Facebook

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