In the self isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be easy to feel helpless. Residents of Lehigh and Northampton counties are under a stay-at-home order, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is the best thing people can do to help slow the spread of the virus.

Understandably, being stuck at home has made many people restless. More than anything, they wish they could be doing something to contribute in the fight against COVID-19.

Thanks to the “power of Facebook and friends,” North Catasauqua resident Carol York Roach organized a way for people to both keep occupied at home and help the cause.

Through a friend who works as a nurse, Roach became aware hospitals in our area have been feeling the desperate need for medical supplies, primarily face masks.

The sterile and certified N95 masks - which block 95 percent of airborne viruses and bacteria - are in short supply in the United States. Pushed to desperation, many hospitals are reaching out to the broader community and asking people to craft and donate handmade face masks.

According to Masks for the Lehigh Valley, a rapidly growing Facebook page that has been coordinating mask crafting and delivery in the region, the cloth masks are being used as protection for the N95 masks so they can be reused.

Typically, N95 masks are intended to be discarded after use, but due to their short supply, health care workers will be wearing these handmade cloth masks over top of their N95s to keep them cleaner.

Using Facebook, Roach received numerous offers from eager volunteers who wanted to help cut fabric and sew masks.

One such offer came from the counselor of an area halfway house, which is currently home to 25 men and 10 women. Those residents are now helping out by cutting patterns for masks.

Experienced seamstresses are now in high demand for mask crafting, so Roach has recruited the help of friends like Irene Librach and her daughter Missy Saraceno to sew masks.

Aside from cotton fabric, the masks also require elastic, which is proving hard to find with all of the craft stores shut down.

When Roach put out a plea for elastic, North Catasauqua Borough Councilwoman Michele Hazzard recalled the costume department of Catasauqua Area Showcase Theater had a supply of elastic, which would now be going unused as its production of “Cinderella” has been postponed to 2021.

Hazzard called CAST director Bill Nothstein, who was allowed inside Sheckler Elementary School for one hour to retrieve the elastic, which was then donated to Roach.

Roach said she has been able to donate to nurses in need with bunches of 50 masks at a time - and the need for them will likely only rise as the crisis develops.

Through community coordination, all of this has been achieved in the span of just a few days, so there’s no telling how much more good can be done to help combat COVID-19.