BEAVERTON, Ore. — A 10-year-old Beaverton girl hopes to spread a message of kindness and inspire others to give back.
Giana Harris is using her sewing skills to make masks and donate them to nonprofits.
Giana is no stranger to sewing. She started her own company last year, selling handmade hair scrunchies online. Her business is called GG’z Scruncheez.
The fourth grader learned how to sew from her mom.
“I wanted to teach her so that in the event she wanted to do something, she was able to hand make it or at least attempt to, and be creative,” said Anna Hurtado.
“One day we went to Joann’s and bought some fabric. My first one, I hand-sewed it. I didn't have a machine or anything like that. It was very fun for me,” said Giana.
Then, when the pandemic hit, Giana jumped to action.
“She was like, 'Hey, I was watching the news, what do you think about making masks?' First thing in my mind I'm like, I don't know how to make a mask. Anna and Giana got together and figured out how to make them,” said Giana’s step-dad James Orr.
The family learned as they went, sewing one mask, then another. Soon, they sold more than 1,000 masks through Giana’s business.
That’s when Anna saw a social media post from Metropolitan Family Service asking for mask donations for its front-line workers. The family knew they could help, and for good reason.
MFS serves more than 30,000 local families with things like food and after-school activities. Giana’s family is one of them.
“Giana is part of the after-school program where they offer after-school activities. They provide the service for free. So, when we had the opportunity to help MFS, it made us feel like we were able to pay it forward for the service that they offer,” said Anna.
And that’s exactly what the family did. Giana decided to donate more than 100 masks to MFS and another nonprofit.
“I feel very proud of myself for doing this and I love helping people, so it makes me even more proud,” she said.
You can learn more about Giana’s business here.
And if you would like to donate to Metropolitan Family Service, visit here.