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Ohio 5th-grader and her mom making masks to help community

Posted at 5:23 PM, May 08, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-08 19:35:22-04

LAGRANGE, Ohio — When we first introduced you to Aubrey Monhart, she was turning old T-shirts into reusable shopping bags.

"I’ve always wanted to save the environment because it’s being destroyed by humans,” Aubrey said in December of 2019.

But for now, that’s all on hold for this fifth-grade entrepreneur.

"I’m a bit sad that I had to give up making the bags because of the coronavirus,” said the LaGrange resident.

Now Aubrey and her mom are taking on a more immediate cause.

"It’s keeping germs away from people,” said Aubrey.

They’re making masks and it’s no small feat. At first they gave away 600 of them for free to folks in need all over.

"LaGrange, Strongsville, Medina, Brunswick, I even mailed some to North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona,” said Kimberly Monhart, Aubrey’s mom.

But it all got too expensive for the Monhart family.

"My husband, he was laid off work and it took a really long time for unemployment to kick in and I just couldn’t afford it anymore,” said Kimberly.

So now this mother-daughter team charges 5-10 dollars per mask while sharing the hard work.

"I cut the elastic and the masks,” said Aubrey.

And they share all the benefits that come with helping others.

"There’s days I feel like we’re kind of overwhelmed with all the orders, just when I feel like I’m going to give up, somebody is sending a card. I’m just grateful,” said Kimberly. "The gratitude from people in our community is that’s more overwhelming than the workload.”

If you want more information on how to purchase a mask, message the Monhart family on Facebook.

RELATED: 5th grader starts her own business to help the environment

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