Former Bobcat Golfer Kyliegh Craddock Helping Her Community During Trying Times (04/23/20)
(Photos submitted) Above: Kyleigh with some of the many masks she has been making
Kyleigh Craddock, a 2019 Clarion Area graduate and former member of the Bobcats Golf Team has been using her talents to help her community, by making facemasks for others during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kyleigh is the owner of Sage Soldier Headband Company, which she started because she couldn’t find a certain headband that matched her scrubs for nursing school. Kyleigh said, “So I decided to make my own. And people really, really liked them and they kept asking me to make them one, so that is how I started selling my Sage Soldier headbands.”
The inspiration for the Sage Soldier name comes from Kyleigh’s serving in the Army National Guard, which she joined 2019, while just getting home from Basic Training and her love for the color sage.
After high school graduation, Kyleigh immediately left for Army Boot Camp, graduating from Boot Camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri on August 23rd, last year. She is currently enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard and will be heading to training at Fort Lee, in Virginia, for the summer.
How did she get started making the face masks and donating them to the community? “One day, my mom and I really had to go grocery shopping and she was really scared about going out among all of this (pandemic issues). So I decided to make masks for us, to make her feel a little bit better.
“Once I made one and I posted a picture about it, a bunch of people kept asking me to make them one. So I just figured I would make as many as I possibly could to help the community. I’ve made over three hundred masks and donated them. It just makes my heart really full and I feel really blessed to serve my community in this way.”
Kyleigh is using her Sage Soldier Headband Company as a platform to get homemade masks out to our community for free during Covid-19.
Kyleigh mentioned, “The way I’ve been working it, is people will message me on Instagram or Facebook and I’ll make their masks. So that’s pretty much how people will contact me, whether it’s headbands or masks. I was lucky enough to have the Sage Soldier headband platform to get out there and reach out to people who may need a mask.”
So far, Kyleigh has donated over 300 homemade masks to our community including the Clarion Hospital, pharmacists, nurses, nursing home staff, local small businesses and families.
And others have come on board, in a big way. Kyleigh’s mother, Kendra Craddock mentioned that Kyleigh “has received many donations from local families to help her cover the cost of the masks: The Lewis Family, The Acey Family,The Woodruff Family, The Greeley Family, Michelle’s Cafe, Beth Albaugh, The Vega Family, The County Seat, The Sherbine Family, The Cyphert Family, Sammi Beichner and many more.”
How can folks around the area get in touch with Kyleigh, if they need face masks? They can reach her at Sage Soldier Headbands (on Instagram and Facebook). Kyleigh mentioned, “The way I’ve been working it, is people will message me on Instagram or Facebook and I’ll make their masks. So that’s pretty much how people will contact me, whether it’s headbands or masks. I was lucky enough to have the Sage Soldier headband platform to get out there and reach out to people who may need a mask.”
Facebook link:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=sage%20soldier%20headbands&epa=SEARCH_BOX
In addition to serving her country in the Guard, Kyleigh and the Clarion Community by providing the free face masks, she is also pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with a minor in Nutrition and Fitness at Clarion University, where she was named to the Deans List and is a member of the University’s Honor Society Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity.
Ever wanting to serve, Kyleigh said, “I love going to nursing school. I can’t wait til I can graduate and help people for the rest of my life. I hope to further my education by going to a pediatric nurse practitioner school. And I hope to one day work in a clinic and help little kids.”
She also works at O’Neil’s Quality Foods.
After her National Guard training at Fort Lee this summer Kyleigh will be stationed out of Beaver Falls.
She stated, “I joined the National Guard because I really wanted to be able to serve my community and my state in particular. Just going through this entire pandemic, there are so many Guardsmen who are deployed out there, helping their communities. And I just really respect that and I can’t wait until I get to do that myself.”
Kendra Craddock said this about her daughter, “From a young age Kyleigh has always loved helping people. She has always been the first to volunteer to serve in any capacity she has been needed in, whether being at school, church, her community, or her country!
“Her Dad and I are so proud of her selflessness when it comes to giving back. We couldn’t be more proud of the path she has chosen and we can’t wait to see where The Army National Guard and Nursing takes her in life.”
(THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO YOUR COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY, KYLEIGH!!!! YOU SURE MAKE US ‘CLARION PROUD’)