MOSES LAKE - In her shop a few miles out from town, Molly Gallaway sits amid small mountains of fabric rolls and thick spindles, slowly sewing pleats and ties onto pink cotton masks.

She’s set aside her other projects, focusing instead on delicately running the soft material through her indelicate upholstery machine, which is better suited to punching holes through a quarter-inch of denim or a sheet of wood than the thin pink cotton in front of her.

But she and her equipment have both made the transition to homemade face masks, temporarily closing down J&M Custom Upholstery, the business she co-owns with her husband Joe, to do it.

Gallaway has joined a growing community in Moses Lake and other cities across the country working overtime to help supplement a flagging supply of face masks during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Many of Gallaway’s masks are slated for Samaritan Healthcare nurses, for friends who work at Walgreens and still regularly interact with customers, as well as a brother-in-law who drives for People For People’s transportation services for seniors.

Since the respiratory virus hit the U.S.’ shores just two short months ago, supplies of industry-grade masks have faltered and healthcare workers, first responders and others still working with the public have had to scramble to find alternatives. Local hospitals and firefighters, among others, have already reported they’ve been forced day-after-day to reuse masks meant to be thrown away after a single use.

The cotton, handmade masks can’t replace the level of protection of N95 and surgical masks, of which suppliers have run out. But workers in critical fields are quickly reaching a point of compromise: it’s better than nothing.

And as so much of the country has been ordered to stay at home to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus, many area residents like Gallaway are refusing to sit back and watch the crisis unfold unchecked.

Many like Gallaway have been rallied by Sue Tebow, Moses Lake resident, matron of the local agriculture and rodeo community, and mother to a flight nurse that helps transport critical patients through Life Flight.

Though none of them are gathering together in one place, Tebow said they have been using a shared Facebook page to communicate, locate in-demand supplies and to share techniques for making a snug but comfortable mask.

“There’s so many people that have joined up,” Tebow said. “I just had a lady contact me a couple of minutes ago, and she made 30 of them today. It’s been enlightening — making them is one thing, but seeing the outpouring of help is another.”

The group gains new members daily, and together they’ve already made hundreds of masks.

Not all of those masks have been slated for the region’s hospitals, either. In normal times, Moses Lake resident Susan Jungers drives a school bus for the Royal School District. But in these atypical times, the district has asked Jungers, who is over the age of 60 and at higher risk of infection, to stay home.

Jungers has turned to making masks in her spare time, including some she’s currently sewing for Confluence Health, but she’s also already delivered over 40 to those still working at the district to deliver meals to kids sent home during the school closures.

“This was my way of helping them out,” Jungers said. “I figured, you know, let’s keep them safe.”

Others, like Tebow, some have family on the front lines of the fight against the virus.

Ana Maria Guilherme got a call last week from her daughter, who works in the medical field on the west side of the state, which has been ground zero for the pandemic as it entered the United States.

“I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but when my daughter called me, she’s so strong, but I could tell that she was crying when she called,” Guilherme said. “They are running out.”

So Guilherme dusted off her sewing machine and got to work. Homemade masks aren’t ideal, Guilherme notes, and she hopes that they don’t become necessary — but, just in case, she’s been experimenting for the last week on an optimal design so they’ll protect her daughter as best as they can.

The first shipment, 65 in total, got mailed out yesterday. Today, her daughter sent her a picture of her wearing one of the handmade masks, and Guilherme was glad to see that it was snug.

“I know that these should not be used, not really,” Guilherme said. “But I keep thinking about what President Kennedy said: Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Now, Guilherme, along with other volunteers from Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, have set to work making masks for others, just in case.

The stakes are a day-to-day reality for some, like Sally Schwab, charge nurse at Samaritan, though she also has a little insider knowledge about what works best, both in a mask for herself and a more general mask for when she doesn’t have the recipients’ measurements.

Her key takeaways: thick interfacing, some kind of wire or other material that can be pinched over the nose to tighten the fit, and enough material that it can be pulled over the chin to get better coverage.

Though she prefers elastic bands for herself that she can pull over her ears, for a general population she’s turned to masks with ties, which can be made of just about anything and are more adjustable for faces of various sizes. Not that it will matter much longer regardless — elastic has flown off of craft store shelves as volunteers make masks across the country, and many volunteers are turning to ties out of necessity.

In the midst of the current crisis, Schwab said it’s been impactful to see the community around her step up to support her and other medical workers.

“It makes us feel like they really care about us while we’re taking care of their loved ones,” Schwab said. “It really is great to see such an outpouring of people donating their time and doing all of these things for us.”

Anyone who wants to learn how they can join the effort can do so by joining the Mask Production Facebook group or by watching a how-to video at www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.