MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — School leaders in Martin County are doing their best to prepare kids coming back to school this fall. They're asking volunteers to help with making masks for students and teachers.
Joan Raines lives in Martin County is doing her part to make sure there's enough.
"If they're parents and they want their kids to have them or if their teachers feel safer and I can supply them with that, I have no problem doing that," said Raines.
She started sewing back in April making masks for United Way.
"I'm an insurance agent during the day and I would leave my desk and walk to the kitchen table and make masks as late as I could," said Raines.
Her journey to help began after she was notified that the Martin County School District was in dire need of masks for students and staff.
"I bought boy patterns and girl patterns, and now I have patterns for younger children," said Raines.
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So far, the county says 60 volunteers have stepped up to help.
"We got 10,000 masks today, cloth masks, from our health department which is a great start on our quest to get masks and get things ready for school to start," said Julie Sessa, Risk Management Coordinator at Martin County Schools.
School leaders say they'll need a lot more though before all 19,000 students head back to school.
That's why Raines has turned making masks into a hobby with friends. "Everyone has a job, said Raines.
"One person is cutting the fabric, one person is cutting the interface. One person is doing the sewing and then you got one person that's got the second machine in there at the end doing that final bit."
Every mask she makes is reusable.
"It's 100% washable," said Raines. "They can wash the whole thing after they wear it and it's not going to mess anything up."