A volunteer effort has sprung up to collect and distribute handmade cloth masks to help vulnerable residents of the Route 1 corridor.

Route 1 Mask Match is working with local nonprofits, volunteer sewers and community organizers to make the types of masks now recommended by the Centers for Disease Control to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

“With each mask delivery, we provide instructions on handling and sanitizing—and an important caution about continuing other preventative practices like social distancing and hand-washing,” they note on their website.

The group was set up in recent days by Hyattsville residents Lissa Bell, Ralph Ferguson, Jimmy McClellan and Laura Usher and College Park resident Millie Tansill.

They are currently seeking more volunteers to sew masks using three patterns they have gotten from health care professionals, sending emails to groups like the HOPE in Hyattsville listserv.

The masks will be provided to people living along the Route 1 corridor from Beltsville to Mount Rainier.

To learn more, visit their website, add them on Facebook or email Route1MaskMatch@gmail.com.