HUMBOLDT — When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States last spring, the leaders at Hy-Capacity Tractor Parts in Humboldt wanted to know what they could do to help.

Molly Varangkounh, president of Hy-Capacity, said they had seen posts on social media about hospitals facing a shortage of personal protective equipment like face masks. She then reached out to administrators at Humboldt County Memorial Hospital to see if they could help supply them with some PPE.

Though Hy-Capacity sells tractor parts, it also has a sewing department that makes tractor seats.

At the time, Varangkounh said, the hospital said it had an adequate supply of PPE. But a few weeks later, they called back and Hy-Capacity began making masks.

“It took a little bit of time to get some of the materials needed because it’s not our normal stuff,” Varangkounh said. “We had to get some fabric on order. We used our local craft supply store to get some things.”

Over April and May, the sewing department at Hy-Capacity sewed hundreds of masks, Varangkounh said. Then, they started sewing hospital gowns after a request from the Humboldt hospital.

“The fabric for the gowns took more time to get here,” Varangkounh said. “We did masks internally here and then we also made kits available for volunteers to take and sew them. A handful of spouses reached out wanting to help. Our primary focus has been on the mask side and now we’re shifting over to gown protection.”

Though the mask and gown production didn’t replace the regular sewing production at Hy-Capacity, they had to fit it into their production schedule while staggering shifts to help facilitate social distancing.

As a local, family-owned business in Humboldt, Varangkounh said it was important to Hy-Capacity to help in any way possible.

“We’re all in this together and I think in a situation where we all feel fairly helpless, it’s important for us to feel we can be a part of something,” the president said in May. “Our team members were very engaged and eager to help with medical needs. We’re a tractor part company, so we felt very, very strongly if we can help in the medical world in any way, that’s just a small sacrifice we can do to help everybody in this situation.”

Michelle Sleiter, CEO of Humboldt County Memorial Hospital, was very appreciative of the support and help from Hy-Capacity and the Humboldt community through a difficult period.

“This community effort warrants an unwavering amount of thanks and makes our staff proud to be a part of such a giving and united community,” she said in May.

As health care facilities across the nation faced limited supplies of personal protective equipment, she said they were grateful for local resources that took a great deal of the stress off their supply need to ensure caregivers were protected.