SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - As COVID-19 continues to spread, essential workers are facing a dwindling supply of protective masks. So, volunteers from around the region have stepped up to fill the need, sewing and donating thousands of masks.

Jodi Groves, a member of the Golden Valley Quilt Guild, made more than 50 masks, enough for each employee at the Front Street Animal Shelter to have two each. Groves said that the employees at the animal shelter are not considered safety workers, so they are not offered any protective gear. “But they’re still out there,” said Groves, “taking care of the animals.”

Groves said other members of the Guild are making masks for staff at hospice, the VA, and Mercy San Juan. “When someone reaches out, we’re on it,” said Groves. “Quilters are known for being very giving people. One of us will take it on.”

Tayva Singer, owner of Cali Quilt Co at 7900 Winding Way in Fair Oaks, wanted to do something to help during the pandemic. So, each day for weeks Singer set out more than 100 kits of fabric and elastic so people could make masks at home. She estimates that well over 1,000 masks were created from the kits.  

“There’s a need, and we had the fabric,” said Singer. “We all need to chip in. We all need to help each other.”

Anytime a doctor or nurse reached out, Singer gave them enough kits for themselves and for others on their staff. And she was moved by the amount of people who wanted kits so they could donate the masks to local healthcare workers: “The generosity is overwhelming.”

Singer was happy to help her community in this time of need, and she never even considered selling the kits: “We don’t want to profit off hardship.”

“People don’t feel safe right now,” said Singer. In the face of all that fear, she said it feels good to be able to do something that can help people feel a little safer.

The Folsom Mask Makers group was launched in mid-March, and volunteers have already made and donated thousands of masks throughout the greater Sacramento area. Karla Burgess, an intensive care unit (ICU) registered nurse (RN), is managing the group, coordinating volunteers from Sacramento, Placer, and El Dorado counties. In addition to sewing the masks, members are also picking up materials, washing and ironing the fabric, preparing sewing kits, and delivering the finished masks. The masks are donated to local hospitals, medical centers, and other healthcare workers on the frontline of this crisis. Some masks are donated to community members as well since guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommend everyone wear a mask when out in public.

The shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers is so critical that the Folsom Mask Makers created a subgroup focused solely on making N95 ICU cover masks for local Sacramento area hospitals. Karen Pizzo McConnell, costume design and seamstress at El Dorado Musical Theatre, is coordinating the volunteers working on the N95 cover masks approved for donation to ICUs at Mercy San Juan Hospital.  

With her sewing experience, McConnell said she was “the resident [sewing] expert answering questions all day on the group site. When Mercy San Juan asked for a mask that required a more experienced hand, we realized we needed a second group dedicated to [N95 mask covers].” Hundreds have already been delivered to Mercy, filling that critical need for those who spend their days caring for others.

“Each of us are trying to keep up with the needs of family and an ever-dwindling supply,” said McConnell, “but we will produce until the need is longer there.”

Volunteers with Folsom Mask Makers understand the need for these masks since many of them are healthcare providers, already working long shifts to care for patients. They spend their free time volunteering to make masks because they know firsthand that these masks are what keeps them and their coworkers safe and healthy so they can keep doing their jobs.

The group needs more volunteers and donations of elastic and 100% cotton fabric. For more information, visit the Folsom Mask Makers Facebook page.