Watching the project take shape before her on Monday, Haefner said, “I don’t know crap about sewing, but I can delegate. We should be able to get 24 gowns from each roll and the more we make, the more we can work out ways to get more gowns per roll. The great thing about these is that we should be able to launder them, so each one could be washed four or five times to be reused. This is going to be a huge help in the hospital.”

On that first morning Haefner hoped they would be able to turn out 100 isolation gowns a day. News was spreading across the mountain and people who had been looking for a way to help were coming together.

“You don’t need to know how to sew to be a help -- you can cut material, cut elastic and velcro,” she said.

Realizing that she needed help organizing a growing group, Haefner reached out to her friend Debbie McMahon, a retired teacher who worked for the Department of Defense.

As news about the project spread, it became clear that despite the large area of the commons, it wouldn’t be sensible for everyone to gather in one place.