A couple of the more colorful cloth protective masks a group of local volunteers made for staff at Nashua's hospitals in preparation for the upcoming surge in COVID-19 cases. Courtesy photo

NASHUA – They came from downtown Nashua and along its borders, from out in Mont Vernon across the Souhegan Valley and from over the river in Hudson and Litchfield, all sharing the same objective: To do something to make a difference in the lives of others.

And make a difference they did, forming a unique assembly line that would almost certainly impress Henry Ford – the master of the assembly line – for their ability to work hand-in-hand despite being one or two or 15 or 20 miles apart.

They’re the folks Yvonne Dunetz calls “our community angels,” a diverse, even eclectic band of volunteers who raced from the sidelines to do their part in helping to make sure local medical personnel are as protected as possible as they enter the daily battle against the dreaded COVID-19 virus.

At first eyeing a goal of making 1,000 cloth masks for delivery to Nashua’s two main hospitals, those on the “production line” shifted into high gear somewhere around the end of last week, Yvonne Dunetz, a lead organizer of the project, said Monday.

“At first we delivered 713 masks to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, then 400 more the next day, so by Friday we brought them just over 1,100,” Dunetz said.

At the same time, roughly 800 masks were transported to St. Joseph Hospital. Then, the surge.

All told, the volunteers turned out in excess of 3,000 masks, which meant each hospital got shipments of 1,500, with enough left over to supply The Front Door Agency and the United Way of Greater Nashua with 50 masks each.

“Officially” known as the “COVID-19 Community Angel Mask Project Volunteers,” the mask-makers “gave their time, talents, love, care and generosity, at this most challenging time,” Dunetz said.

The volunteers, who ranged in age from young children to a spry, 91-year-old “who has been sewing all her life,” Dunetz said, were pleased “to be able to do something to show they care about, and appreciate, our healthcare providers, and want them to be safe.”

The final delivery, Dunetz said, will be made today, wrapping up a feverish, but very rewarding, couple of weeks on the scores of home-based production lines.

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