LONDON, ONT. -- Canada Sews London-Middlesex, is a local initiative that sews fabric PPE equipment for essential workers, upon request of a local health team.

On March 19, Katie Timson, regional coordinator, started sewing fabric face masks, headbands, scrub caps and gowns to be available as a ‘last resort option” for front-line health care workers.

In a matter of days, Timson and her team delivered 1000 masks to The London Middlesex Primary Care Alliance.

Canada Sews London-Middlesex now has 300 volunteers who sew, cut fabric, or offer contactless delivery, in anticipation of PPE shortages.

Timson says that anyone can be a volunteer, all you have to do is send a message to the group’s Facebook page. Canada Sews London-Middlesex is also accepting donations.

"A lot of our materials do come from the sewers themselves,” says Timson.

“So a lot of seamstresses or hobby sewers are taping into their stashes so to speak and depleting them rather quickly, so we are accepting donations of clean unused fabric and buttons.”

Timson says Buttons are the number one item the organization needs most.

“They are used on scrub caps and headbands…we have gone through 14,000 buttons already.”

As of Saturday, the local organization has received over 20,000 requests in the region and have delivered over 18,000 PPE equipment.

Hospitals, pharmacies, fire departments, are just some of the organizations that are now able to receive the fabric PPE equipment.

Canada Sews is a grassroots movement of Canadian Sewers supporting front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, from coast to coast.

Nationally, the organization has made 125,000 deliveries in 36 regions in eight provinces.

The movement started in Durham with Lee-Anne Moore.