From making fudge to producing coronavirus face masks

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Exclusive: Blue Ridge Fudge Lady on coronavirus mask-making project

Robin Burdette, also known as the Blue Ridge Fudge Lady, is coordinating a coronavirus mask-making operation for local hospitals and first responders in Pulaski, Virginia.

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Robin Burdette, also known as the Blue Ridge Fudge Lady, has been bringing people together at her Pulaski, Va., fudge shop since 2015. That very sense of community is what led officials at Virginia Tech to tap Burdette to coordinate a coronavirus mask-making operation for local hospitals and first responders.

“They felt like I had a good reach in the community,” said Burdette in an exclusive interview with Fox News. “We have a lot of support and local people sewing, delivering, and getting material together.

"It's become a big community project, giving people a sense of purpose,” she added.

Burdette explained that assistant professor Tiffany Carpenetti from The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) gave her the exact mask patterns to emulate and a list of supplies to purchase. Once she got the tools, Burdette started strategizing and reaching out to her community.

“I went to the stores and bought as much as I could, and then I started a social media campaign to gather volunteers to help make the masks,” said Burdette. “I call it ‘Operation Face Mask with the Blue Ridge Fudge Lady.'”

Burdette also worked with Pulaski's chamber of commerce and appeared on her local radio station to try and get the word out to find more supplies and volunteers. She even created a mask delivery schedule on her website to coordinate pick-ups and drop-offs to maintain social distancing. Burdette told Fox News that she’s been able to donate a couple of hundred masks so far, but that there is still a great need in the Pulaski area.

“We have a significant need in this community for masks still, for retirement homes, for our big employers, because they’re still working and want to get masks for their employees,” said Burdette.

Burdette told Fox News that she plans on seeing "Operation Face Mask with the Blue Ridge Fudge Lady" through. She said the motivation to help those around her really began when she joined the U.S. Navy earlier in her career. Burdette served as a cryptologist and said that’s when she learned the world was bigger than herself.

“The military taught me that if I’m not helping people, there’s kind of a void in my heart,” said Burdette. “I thought, at first, it was kind of funny that Virginia Tech reached out to the Blue Ridge Lady to help make masks, but I think they know that I wouldn't say no if somebody needed help in this community, ever.”

 Emily DeCiccio is a reporter and video producer for Fox News Digital Originals. Tweet her @EmilyDeCiccio.