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Fighting COVID-19, one bottle of hand sanitizer at a time

With school canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, seventh-grader Sommer Owens turned her efforts to producing hand sanitizer, a product in short supply in stores. (Provided photo)

When seventh-grader Sommer Owens isn’t remote learning, drawing and painting, or adding videos to her YouTube channel, she’s trying to help fight the coronavirus by making hand-sanitizer and giving it to others free of charge.  

With school canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, seventh-grader Sommer Owens turned her efforts to producing hand sanitizer, a product in short supply in stores. (Provided photo)

When she found out that she wouldn’t be going back to her school, James Hart in Homewood, because of the stay-at-home order, Sommer said the news was bittersweet.

“I was kind of excited because I like learning at home just a little bit,” Sommer said.  “But it was weird at first because I wasn’t actually seeing people.”

Her mom, Shonta, was a 911 dispatcher for the Markham Police Department for 19 years, and now works there as a records clerk. She wears a mask and gloves to protect herself when she goes out. She said she’s trying not to panic as the consequences of COVID-19 start to hit close to home.

“I’ve always been a germaphobe but it’s getting scary now since we personally know people who are dying from this,” Shonta said. “Sommer’s father is a sergeant for the Glenwood Police Department so with him coming in contact with a lot of people and then me, being around a lot of officers (who) could be carriers, it’s scary.”

She and Sommer have been trying to stay healthy as they quarantine by working out, taking vitamins and praying.  

Otherwise, Sommer paints and draws to pass the time, adding animated videos to YouTube.  But she says she still wanted something else to do while at home and looked for a way to do her part in trying to protect others from the virus.

Her mom had been curious about how hand-sanitizer could be made from home, and she was too, Sommer said. Sommer started researching during her spring break, watching various YouTube videos to develop a recipe.    

“I had some of my Christmas money saved, so I went online and started buying materials,” Sommer said. “Then I just continued to look around (online) to find recipes and changed them a little bit to make them work. That’s how it started.”

The setup Sommer Owens uses to create homemade hand sanitizer. (Provided photo)

Sommer’s recipe consists of ⅔ cup of 70 percent alcohol, ⅓ cup of aloe vera gel and three to five drops of essential oils like lavender or peppermint. After she stirs all of the ingredients, she uses a funnel to put it into containers, creating labels for each one.  

“I kind of just wanted to help people out because (people) need it right now and it’s hard to find hand-sanitizer,” Sommer said. “When you can find it, it’s really expensive right now.”    

When Sommer made her first batch of the product, she said she only gave it to her mom and dad since they work in emergency services. But after her mom started telling friends, family, and co-workers about Sommer’s hand-sanitizer, they wanted bottles of it as well, with some offering to donate money.  

Shonta and her husband have been delivering bottles locally and some have been shipped to Sommer’s elderly grandparents and aunts in Pennsylvania. 

Her daughter’s hand-sanitizer is helping to fill a need as the product becomes more difficult to find in stores due to COVID-19, Shonta noted.  

“I think it’s great especially for people at my job and my husband’s job because at first, we didn’t have supplies,” Shonta said. “You can’t always immediately get to soap and water. So for her just to do something like that is thoughtful. I think (what she is doing) is one of the best things ever. I’m so proud of her.”

Shonta says Sommer has made over 50 bottles of the sanitizer so far and has been making four bottles a day.   

Shonta said once materials for Sommer’s recipe become more available, she may start up a Facebook or Instagram page for people to message with orders. In the meantime, orders can be made through email at [email protected].

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