Grassroots movement "MasksNOW" producing thousands of masks nationwide, 10,000 in North Carolina

LILLINGTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- A recently created grassroots movement known as The MasksNOW Coalition is helping provide masks to the everyday person.

The movement was birthed inside a Reddit Discord channel called Coronavirus Army. People like Astrid Cook, a Durham resident, were a part of the creation of the coalition.

Since then, MasksNOW has garnered around 44,000 volunteers nationwide, all helping create homemade masks for people and organizations in need.

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That's where "Created for Crisis" comes in. This is another coalition that was started online by Lillington-based founder Jodi Murray.

Murray, along with the help of a material science team and other volunteers, was able to create three easy-to-make designs that they've put up on the MasksNOW website.

"Instead, in the next few weeks, it becomes strange to see somebody not wearing a mask, you know, that's where we really want to be. We want to be able to have that normalcy out there," Murray said.

In North Carolina, Cook says there are around 200 volunteers trying to sew 10,000 masks, 2,000 of those going to the Durham County Emergency Management team.

With men and women spending countless hours putting together these protective coverings, Cook, who is the North Carolina volunteer coordinator, says they need more people willing to step up.

"If you can hold a phone, work a sewing machine, or drive a car, there's a place for you at MasksNOW," Cook said.

The mission of these organizations is to make it the norm to see people wearing masks during this pandemic and look out for our medical personnel.

"Our kind of motto is every homemade mask frees up a manufactured mask for a doctor or a nurse," Cook added.

If you would like to join the movement and help create masks or make calls to organizations, head over to MasksNOW's website.