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We are accustomed to seeing presents on a tree in December, but in Lisbon, Iowa, such a tree also exists in April.

Hundreds of facemasks have been sewn by Deb Siggins, a 55-year-old resident. She makes them for friends and family, as well as for neighbors in her local community. After making them, she hangs them on a tree near her home so anyone can grab one when they need it.

“My goal was to do 100 for the hospital, but then my friends and family wanted some and it just snowballed,” Siggins told CNN. “It went crazy, I’m getting so many requests from everywhere to the point where I can’t keep up.”

Deb Siggins

When Deb first started making the masks, she was doing it to benefit the UnityPoint Health’s St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. They were asking people to make masks for their healthcare workers who are dealing with a coronavirus pandemic shortage.

Small groups across the United States are doing what they can to help doctors have what they need, including factories that have started to produce masks and citizens who are selling masks.

The PPE shortage continues to be an issue for anyone working on the front lines. In addition, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people wear facemasks in public, causing citizens to look for PPE as well.

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“I just felt like [my knitting] is a gift that I could put it towards other people, because it’s a gift that God has given me.” A real-life “giving tree” has sprouted up in Iowa after one kind-hearted woman decided to start knitting hundreds of face masks and putting them out for others to take. Deb Siggins of Lisbon began making the masks as a way to help out a local hospital during the coronavirus pandemic. Click the link in our bio to read more on this story.

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Siggins is helping to deal with such a shortage but she is also following social distancing guidelines. She sews the masks from a variety of designs and then hangs them on the tree. They are restocked regularly, and they typically disappear within a day after they are available.

In addition to hanging the masks on the tree, she also makes them for coworkers, paramedics, firefighters, grocery store employees, and elderly patients that come to the doctor’s office where she works.

“I’m a giver not a taker, so I’m always happy to help,” Siggins said to CNN.

She says that the request for the masks is somewhat overwhelming but she doesn’t plan on stopping until the pandemic has passed.