Remaining 2019 Homer Hankies to be made into masks during COVID-19 pandemic

The Homer Hankies remaining after last season's short Twins playoff series will be put to good use.

Teaming up with Faribault Woolen Mill Co., Love Your Melon and Cub Foods, the Twins will use excess inventory of the 2019 Homer Hanky to make cotton face coverings to be delivered to healthcare systems, grocery workers and nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One Homer Hanky can be made into five masks. The terry cloth towel meets CDC guidelines for cloth face coverings.

Love Your Melon will be providing the polypropylene surgical wrap material and elastic to Faribault Woolen Mills Co., whose team of seventh-generation craftspeople will transform the Homer Hankies into lined, protective face masks.

Through rounds of materials sampling with the team at M Health Fairview, the surgical wrap material was deemed the most readily acceptable material to repurpose into face masks for visitors and for healthcare workers who are not directly patient-facing. The Homer Hanky will be used on the outer side of the mask and the surgical wrap material will be used as the lining.

The Twins organization said the initial focus will be on delivering the masks to healthcare providers, stressing they are not surgical masks but fill a need for cloth face masks. Grocery store workers, via Cub Foods, will also be recipients.

The masks will not be sold.

The Star Tribune and Twins reintroduced the Homer Hanky after the team won the American League Central title last season, but there was only one home game in a three-game loss to the Yankees.