DENVER (KDVR) — She is a Pioneer through and through. Kelsey Bigham is Denver’s Director of Hockey Operations, one of only three full-time female staff members to hold that title in all of Division-I hockey.
For the Pios team, she does it all. “Managing meals, setting up road trips, travel plans, team video, everything in between,” Bigham says of her daily duties.
But her skills go far beyond her day job. A few years ago, she became a certified EMT while she was still a full-time student at Colorado State.
“I picked up shifts when I could basically, it was a lot of weekend nights,” she remembers. “My mom was a flight nurse and my dad is a flight paramedic so I have an extensive family background in medicine.”
Kelsey is now a full time member of the hockey world, but in many ways her heart is still with those in the medical field. She wanted to help in any way she could during the coronavirus pandemic, so she’s putting another skill of hers to use.
She recently began sewing masks for healthcare workers and sending them all around the country.
“Since I was an EMT and so many of my friends are medical professionals, I felt an overwhelming sense that I should be alongside them,” she says. “I should be fighting this thing with them, but I’m not. So I tried to find a way that I can make myself useful and help out where I could.”
In just a week and a half, she’s made more than 100 masks – and the response has been nothing but gratitude.
“They like them! They’re so thankful. A lot of these people are getting less than one N95 mask per shift, so anything they can wear over that to help protect the longevity of the mask is very helpful.”
And this multi-skilled Pioneer doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.
“I’ll keep doing it until JOANN Fabrics stops sending me fabric and people stop needing them,” she says.
If you’re able to sew and interested in learning how to make these masks, Bigham suggests checking out Dena’s Mask Making Army on Facebook for more information.