Locals lending hands

At a time of crisis, people sometimes step forward to lend a hand.

That includes Quay County during the coronavirus pandemic, where at least two women are sewing protective masks and another woman is working to get free internet access for underprivileged children at apartment complexes she manages so they can continue their schoolwork.

Lesa Salvador of Tucumcari is crocheting masks to be given away to children or the elderly. For everyone else, she's asking for a $4 donation so she can buy more yarn.

"If they need it, they can have it," she said. "I don't want somebody to go out and get sick when it could have been prevented."

Salvador said Thursday she'd made 15 masks so far, with another 10 donated by another woman in town.

Salvador also set up the "COVID 19 barter and trade Quay Countu" (sic) page on Facebook so people could aid each other, with no cash exchanged, during the crisis. It has more than 500 members.

"People have really stepped up to help each other," she said. "I'm really proud of our community that they're wanting to do this."

Those who wish to have one of Salvador's masks should contact her through the bartering page.

Cambry Lujan, a Mesalands Community College student in Logan, recently made eight masks for Logan emergency medical technicians and is making 10 to 20 more for Tucumcari EMTs and for the Quay Ridge assisted living facility in Tucumcari.

Lujan said her goal is to make about 100 more masks for local health workers, then others in Clovis and Amarillo.

"I just wanted to give back to those who are on the front lines, who are sacrificing their safety," she said.

She said if she gets more supplies, she'd begin to donate those masks to the public.

Lujan said she would enroll at Amarillo College in the fall so she can become a nurse.

Miranda Archuleta, a manager of Quay Apartments and Chaparral Apartments in Tucumcari for the last two years, said she is working to set up its free Plateau Fiber internet for at least dozen children who reside there. Those children would need internet to continue their studies after the pandemic forced the closing of all New Mexico public schools.

Archuleta said Plateau doesn't have a setup at the Quay Apartments for its Fiber high-speed service.

"We know now there's a solution where Plateau can give (residents) a wireless box they can plug into their house and use that," she said.

She said Tucumcari school board member Heather Gonzales played a role in the effort.

"She's been a huge, huge help to us," Archuleta said.

Archuleta also has collected four or five previously unused smartphones so children can tap into a wireless internet signal, using the phones as makeshift computers.

Archuleta, a mother of two, said she could relate to parents' struggles with internet technology.

"We have internet at home, but it's still difficult to set it up and get it going," she said.

Archuleta said she's aware the Quay Apartments have a bad reputation in some parts of town, but she and its staff have been working to address that.

"We've worked really hard to clean up the place," she said. "It is a HUD property, but it's also a good starting ground for families. I feel it's part of our job to advocate for our tenants. Some of these people don't have the means. Whatever we can do to help them, we try to do."

Anyone who wants to donate a smartphone to Archuleta can call 575-461-3555 or 575-282-2582 to make arrangements.