Exclusive: Local seamstress makes critical face masks for frontline workers
Exclusive: Orlando tailor Tina Tran is making face masks for her community and for health professionals on the frontlines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Tina Tran has owned Tina’s Master Tailors in Central Florida for 19 years. The coronavirus pandemic marked the first time Tina had to close the doors to her business.
Tina Tran has owned Tina’s Master Tailors in Central Florida for 19 years. (Thao Nguyen, Tina's Master Tailor)
Despite temporarily shutting her business, Tran has no free time on her hands, and is currently busier than ever. She is making face masks for her community and for health professionals on the frontlines fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“I watched the news, and I saw that many hospitals needed masks,” said Tran. “I had some of the materials, so I made 30 to 40 masks, and my husband suggested going to all of the local hospitals and giving them a few free samples, so we did.”
Tran’s husband, Hung Nguyen, the branch leader for Truist Bank in Orlando, told Fox News that requests started rolling in the very next day.
One of Tina Tran’s clients additionally requested Tina specifically start making the masks for doctors tending to COVID-19 patients. (Thao Nguyen, Tina's Master Tailor)
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“One of the emergency nurses from Advent Health here in Orlando, she came to the bank, and she said, ‘Hung, we want to get some of the masks that you gave us yesterday,’” Nguyen said. “And then I gave her 80 free the first time, then the very next day, the security team from another hospital contacted me and then I gave him more.”
One of Tran’s clients additionally requested that she specifically start making the masks for doctors tending to COVID-19 patients. She watched instructional videos and learned how to meet the specifications for the medical masks.
Tina Tran has continued to go above and beyond and has been calling each of her customers to see if they need her masks. (Thao Nguyen, Tina's Master Tailor)
“Last week, one of Tina’s clients came over and said, ‘Tina, I want you to make the masks for the doctors in the virus room,’ and the hospital gave us the specific material, fabrics, and all the material that Tina need to make specifically for the doctors in the virus room,” Nguyen said. “And then Tina actually made them for the doctors in the hospital.”
“They send me pictures when they wear it [the masks], they make me cry a lot, because I know I can help them to be safe, and some of the people, they don’t have the money. Now I know, more people, they need it, and I am here to help them.”
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Tran has also been working with members of her local church, St. Philip Phan Van Minh Vietnamese Church, and teaching those who knew how to sew to make face masks. The church even donated fabric to bolster Tran’s efforts. “The Church actually donated the fabric, and so Tina cut it out, and so far the Church and us have made over 1,000 masks to give out for free to the community as well,” Nguyen said.
Tina Tran has also been working with members of her local church, and teaching those who knew how to sew to make face masks. (Thao Nguyen, Tina's Master Tailor)
Tran has continued to go above and beyond and has been calling each of her customers to see if they need her masks. She underscored how grateful she is for the customers who have been the lifeblood of her business for the past 19 years.
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“I’d like to thank all my friends and family,” Tran said. “They send me pictures when they wear it [the masks], they make me cry a lot, because I know I can help them to be safe, and some of the people, they don’t have the money. Now I know, more people, they need it, and I am here to help them.”
Emily DeCiccio is a reporter and video producer for Fox News Digital Originals. Tweet her @EmilyDeCiccio.
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