Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) is working with Food City, University of Kentucky Extension Office and local health departments to collect cloth masks for at-risk Appalachians.

As masks and other personal protective equipment become scarce, SOAR has provided DIY mask patterns on its website  to show interested creators how they can make masks that meet safety requirements.

Those masks can then be donated to the customer service area at any Food City in Eastern Kentucky. Health department officials will then collect the masks to distribute them to at-risk people in need.

“We realized early on that this was going to be a needed accessory,” said Executive Director Jared Arnett. “This was really geared toward those who would be in the most need.”

Several of SOAR’s partners have made connections with people who made masks and had no idea where to take them. Now, Food City stores will serve as a region-wide drop-off point for completed masks.

Arnett said the project has been underway for a while and is a way to provide masks for patients who need them in order to help save the more professional-grade masks for healthcare workers.

He said it was all about using the partnerships the organization has formed to help build a stronger, united front.

“It’s what our name stands for: Shaping Our Appalachian Region. Everybody doing what they can to do the best for their neighbors,” Arnett said.