As the coronavirus continues to spread across the world, those in the healthcare world are beginning to experience a shortage of medical masks. Members of Penn State’s Days for Girls club saw this shortage and decided to put their sewing skills to work.

Days for Girls International, which normally sews menstrual kits to donate, started this temporary movement deemed the Masks4Millions campaign. The sewing organization came up with a simple pattern to use to create cloth masks that can be worn over the usual disposable masks to protect them and allow the masks to last longer.

The members of the Days for Girls club have been working within in their own separate home communities to ensure medical workers are protected.

One member of the Penn State community has joined the club in their sewing endeavor.

Schreyer Honors College Dean Peggy Johnson began sewing masks after her daughter, who lives across the country, asked if the two could “sew together.” Thanks to the help of FaceTime, the mother-daughter duo got to work.

Days for Girls then contacted Dr. Johnson about joining the club in making masks, unknowing that she had already started with her own pattern.

“It was such a funny intersection of like-minded thinkers who want to help!” Dr. Johnson said.

Both Days for Girls and Dr. Johnson are continuing to encourage anyone who can sew to help with the Masks4Million campaign. A signup sheet to receive the face mask pattern can be found here.

“It’s really hard to find ways to be useful right now,” Dr. Johnson said. “Sometimes, just making human contact and helping someone feel less isolated is the very best thing we can do.”