Two weeks ago, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis discovered a stash of 30,000 N95 masks, which are one of the most effective in helping prevent the spread of coronavirus.

One problem: The elastic bands on the masks were old and rotten. The masks could be disinfected, but the bands had to be replaced before anyone could use them.

Enter Stephanie Lepone and Ginna Rauls. In a matter of days, the two assembled a team, taught them what to do and watched as over 400 volunteers joined the effort to sew all the bands last weekend and return them to the hospital by Monday.

“We’ve just been in awe,” said Rauls.

Lepone was approached by a Baptist official and asked if she knew anybody who could help sew the bands. She told Rauls and, together, they found 15 people to serve as team leaders organizing volunteers.

Through meetings on video-conferencing service Zoom, the two taught the rest of the group how to sew the 11-inch elastic strips, so those volunteers could pass it on to their teams. Each band required eight stitches to attach it to the mask, and each mask took about a minute to do.

The two figured they could do 6,000 masks over the weekend and continue with the rest over the next few weeks. But when the masks were ready for the pickup last Monday, Lepone and Rauls found out the elastic strips were delayed several days.

Instead of being a problem, it allowed word to spread about the project. More got involved and, by the time the bands arrived, the group was more than ready to handle all 30,000 masks.

“There were friends, Sunday school friends, neighbors, some people had people on their teams that had never met before,” Rauls said.

Some worked throughout the weekend while other put in just an hour. Some used sewing machines and others stitched the bands by hand. In just over two days, all of the masks were fixed and ready for pickup by Baptist Memorial staff.

A hospital spokesperson said the masks will be distributed not only in Memphis but throughout the Baptist Memorial health care system, which involves 22 hospitals in three states.

“It’s pretty awesome to think this was done in a short amount of time,” Rauls said. “It blew our mind to try and do them all but the delay helped us get the word out and now they’re all returned to Baptist. It’s amazing.”

You can reach Evan Barnes on Twitter (@Evan_B) or by email at evan.barnes@commercialappeal.com