'Faith over fear'; Cookeville mom leads effort to sew hundreds of masks for community

After facing devastation, one community was given no time to heal before being hit with another hardship. A family got to work in a way that's helping hundreds. 

"I've been sewing two weeks straight," said Amanda Turner, speaking to News4 from the window of her Cookeville home. She spoke between running her sewing machine.

"I sew from the time I get up until I go to bed."

It was last month when whole neighborhoods near Amanda's Cookeville home were devastated by a tornado. 

"We could tell something was close," she said. "Then, it felt like all the air was sucked out of the house. Then, to hear we lost so many lives, especially children, it's hard when you lose kids in the area."

These people were still grieving when the tornado was quickly followed by the Coronavirus outbreak.

"We don't need any more devastation," said Amanda. "We don't need it to be that bad cause we lost so much and have been through so much."

Amanda knew her family could do something.

"This is Prudence. She's 11," said Amanda, gesturing to her daughter working behind a sewing machine. "This is my oldest Cynthia. They've been a big help."

The effort is called Cookeville Strong; Operation Stay Healthy. Amanda's running a Facebook group of that name made up of others sewing masks for nurses, nursing homes, home health workers, delivery drivers, fast food workers and many more. 

"I'm averaging about 50 a day," Amanda said of the masks.

Giving us a little window to life in Cookeville today after a tornado and during a pandemic, Amanda said she's living by three words. 

"Faith over fear," she said. "You have to have faith over fear."