A local mask-making effort seeks volunteers without sewing skills to aid those gifted with needles, plus more materials to keep them all working.

An effort called the Community Health Protection initiative, organized by Butler AM Rotary member Stu Surkosky, has been putting materials and instructions in the hands of area sewers.

The volunteers are sewing cloth masks for use when medical workers treating COVID-19 patients run out of traditional masks. Surkosky's group collects their creations and is delivering them to groups such as Butler Ambulance Service and Butler Memorial Hospital.

Beyond talented sewers, the group is now seeking less craft-inclined volunteers who can help prepare raw materials for the sewing teams.

Beyond that, the group is also looking for cash donations and donations of fabric that can be turned into masks.

In an email update on the effort, Surkosky said “Several volunteers thus far have been folks familiar with sewing like seamstresses and quilters who have materials and supplies that they are using to create masks as donations. In some instances, however, they have run out of materials.”

On the phone Saturday, Surkosky said he's hoping a GoFundMe drive set up by the Rotary would catch on and raise more money to fund further mask-making efforts.

Requests for masks made from local volunteers have come in from health care organizations, nonprofit agencies and homes for the elderly, Surkosky said.

On April 3, Gov. Tom Wolf held a news conference instructing Pennsylvania residents to wear some sort of mask or face covering anytime they leave their home. Surkosky said demand increased accordingly.

Instructions on making masks are available on the rotary's website ButlerAMRotary.com, as well as a link to their GoFundMe page.