Halifax company shipping tartan masks around the world

Sherrie Kearney is a busy woman.

The owner of Maritime Tartan Company has made over 11,000 masks since the pandemic made its way to Nova Scotia.

And there's no sign of business slowing down. In fact, the company has seen a surge in orders ever since Dr. Robert Strang and Premier Stephen McNeil announced masks would be mandatory in indoor public spaces as of Friday, July 31.

Kearney's company usually focuses on creating tartan products, including scarves, robes, bags and blankets.

But when COVID-19 forced many businesses to shut down, she switched her focus to making masks.

“We can't get back to doing our regular stuff yet, mostly everybody is looking for masks,” said her husband and business partner Dale Kearney. “We very rarely, since this all started, are getting requests for anything else in tartan, it's all masks now.”

And Kearney said orders have been coming in from around the world.

“A lot of people are ordering from Nova Scotia and a lot are going across Canada,” Kearney told NEWS 95.7's The Sheldon MacLeod Show. “But we've shipped them to Australia, New Zealand, we have a couple going to England. They're going everywhere.”

The Maritime Tartan Company also made a charity batch and ended up donating $10,000 to local organizations, including the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, Brunswick Street Mission, Margaret's House and Hope Cottage.