In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, widespread face mask shortages are putting front line workers across Illinois at risk. Novias Davila bridal shop in Little Village has joined the fight against the spread of the virus by using their sewing expertise to produce cloth masks for jails, hospitals and many other frontline service providers.

Novias Davila, located at 3535 W. 26th St., has been making bridal dresses for over two decades. The business has always been active in the Little Village community, so when the governor’s Stay at Home Order went into effect, manager Patty Navarro said simply closing up shop wasn’t an option.

“We heard on the news that there was a shortage of masks and we really wanted to help our community the only way we know how,” said Navarro. “So we started making masks in a way to help our community overcome this.”

The small team of eight has been hard at work. According to their Facebook page, from March 20, to April 17 they produced and donated over 17,000 masks.

Dynamic, innovative, revolutionary – just a few words to describe the incomparable woman known to us as Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama is not only the first African American First Lady of the United States, but an accomplished mother, author, attorney and inspirational figure around the world.

Our former First Lady was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois. From an early age, she was raised to speak her mind and reach for the stars.

She’s always hated the question, “What will you be when you grow up?” because it encourages the idea that you can only be one thing, or that you can’t evolve (hence her memoir’s title, Becoming). She loves the fact that you never stop growing, never stop learning for your entire life.

And as refreshing as her philosophy is, she’s already achieved so much. Here’s a few interesting facts from her extraordinary resume:

On Dec. 12, 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark built Camp River Dubois near present day Wood River in Madison County.

Lewis and Clark, along with their Corps of Discovery, spent several months in what would become the state of Illinois, originally crossing into the territory with 20 men on Nov. 11, 1803.

They stayed for two days at Fort Massac, near Metropolis, where they resupplied and solicited volunteers to assist them on their journey. Among those who joined the expedition was George Drouillard, a man of Shawnee and French descent who became the party’s best hunter and interpreter.

Lewis and Clark’s team traveled through southern Illinois along the Ohio River and then north along the Mississippi River, stopping in Kaskaskia on Dec. 28 to recruit 12 more volunteers before continuing to present-day Wood River to set up camp.

Helen Scott Hay, a trailblazing nurse who served with the American Red Cross during World War I and trained nurses all over the world, has deep ties to northwestern Illinois.

Hay was born in 1869 in Lanark, a town in Carroll County in northwestern Illinois. Affectionately called “Nettie” by her family, she attended Savanna High School, today known as West Carroll High School.

After graduation, she earned a degree from Northwestern University in Evanston before attending Illinois Training School for Nurses in Chicago and graduating at the top of her class. Trained nursing was a relatively new occupation at the time, and the nursing school was founded by prominent progressive women who saw a need to improve nursing care for Chicago’s sick poor. Students did much of their training at Cook County Hospital. From 1906 to 1912, Hay was superintendent of the nursing school.