A local women’s church group has gone above and beyond to make masks for healthcare workers.

Judy Nations and her Sunday school class started making masks around mid March. They’ve made more than 2,500 so far and are still going.

“This is a once in a lifetime thing,” Nations said. “One of the ladies asked ‘Why don’t we make masks?’ We agreed and that’s where we are.”

Nations and the other women in her group attend Fair River Baptist Church. Their women’s missionary union has made masks for healthcare workers across the state and the southeast, including Louisiana and Texas.

The masks have gone to places such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, doctor’s offices, eye clinics and even psychiatric offices.

The masks are made in an assembly line fashion, taking place in separate homes. One person begins the process and then brings their finished product to their church, and the next person picks it up, and the line continues.

“When we know what we’ve got to do, we start,” Nations said.

It all started when King’s Daughters Medical Center needed masks, and so the group wanted to help. The hospital provided material to them and then it progressed from there.

“They needed masks, and so they furnished the material,” Nations said.

Two of the group members, Shirley Nations and Mary Nations Smith, donated material from their former business Imaginations Bridal. The group is using what they have available and others have donated to their cause.

“We just all use what we have,” Nations said. “I’ve tried to order things, but even if they have it you can’t hardly get it.”

Even with the outbreak of COVID-19 looming over the group, they were still able to serve a need in their community and in others.

“We try to do mission work all year long,” Nations said. “We do whatever comes up.”

Nations said they’ve continued to make masks since March because of what an opportunity it is.

“It’s the fact that such an opportunity has arisen,” Nations said. “We’ve reached out to different groups and they’re taking anything.”

Because of word of mouth, their efforts were heard about all over the state.

“People hear about us,” Nations said. “It just happened because of the situation.”

For her group to make masks for others, Nations said it means a lot.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Nations said. “It means so much to know that in a dire situation that none of us have ever seen anything like this.”

All in all, it helps Nations and the other ladies fulfill the mission of their group.

“You are helping somebody, you may not even know them, but you’re keeping them from getting the disease,” Nations said.

 

Story by Gracie Byrne