Ahmed Diakhate ’23 (BUS), a finance major at UConn Stamford and the owner of LOST! Clothing fashion company, has created and donated 250 face masks to health care workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It feels great to be able to help the people around me who are putting their lives on the line to dismiss the horrid situation we are all in,’’ says Diakhate, a Hamden native.

“I had the tools to be able to do so, and I feel creating these masks and donating them was the best way for me to use them.’’

Diakhate, who sewed the antibacterial masks between breaks in his studies, distributed them to Yale New Haven Hospital and Masonicare, a senior living center in Wal- lingford. He chose those two institutions because family friends work there. He gradually became so skilled in making the face masks that he could complete one in about five minutes.

Diakhate started his clothing brand, LOST! Clothing, almost two years ago. The name came from the idea that clothing, and life, is what you make of it. He’s produced five collections to date, including a best-selling T-shirt, hoodies, and denim jeans and jackets. He handles all aspects of the business himself, from design to marketing — he likes compiling skills.

“I think in a time of need, like this, everybody should learn something new and, if they can, they should do something to better the world,’’ says Diakhate.