Dallas' Darden 'Pops' McGlothlin Makes Hundreds Of Masks, Gives Them Away In Front Yard
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Darden McGlothlin has always been good with his hands. So, when the pandemic hit, he looked for a way to use them to help.
"Like so many Americans, I felt like I should do something," the 74-year-old North Dallas resident said. "Sitting around being quarantined was not a good thing."
So the man known as "Pops" dusted off an old Brother Mickey Mouse embroidery machine and set out to make what the world needed most last spring.
"I went on YouTube and learned how people are making masks," he said.
Using old sheets and pipe cleaner, he admitted the process was trial and error.
"I broke a lot of needles before I figured out that going fast is not the best plan," he said.
He places each mask inside a plastic bag, which he hangs on a metal tree that he welded. And they're there for anyone who needs them.
"Sometimes it's people, I figure, going to the store, the grocery store or something and they forget their mask, they can come and pick one up."
Since April, he's gone through 17 boxes of sandwich bags.
"So that's 2,465 masks that people have picked up. I'm on my 18th box now," he said.
As long as someone takes them, he'll continue making them.
"Until the pandemic is under control and we don't have to do this anymore."
And he hopes the recipients will take more with them than just a mask.
"We want people to remember their neighbors. That's what you're doing it for, for other people, not for yourself," he said. "We're supposed to love one another, and that's what this is all about."
