Tarentum woman recovering from crash injuries sews hundreds of masks for others

Dawn Galia hasn’t been able to work since being involved in a car crash that she said nearly killed her and her husband in 2018.

But when someone she knows put out a request for face masks to help combat the spread of the coronavirus that causes covid-19, Galia knew she could help.

“My mom was a seamstress. She taught me how to sew,” said Galia, 55, of Tarentum. “I have a lot of material here she gave me a long time ago. I can help.”

So Galia started sewing.

She figures she has made almost 700 masks that she distributed around the community and beyond since late January or early February.

Westmoreland County Transit, where her husband, Peter, works as a dispatcher, has been among the recipients.

“I ended up doing masks for all of their bus drivers,” she said. “We wanted them to be safe.”

Dawn Galia, a New Kensington native, and Peter Galia, a native of Plum, met in their church youth group in Monroeville. They’ve been married since 1984 and have a son, Zachary Galia, who lives in Mesa, Ariz., and a daughter, Dianna Towns, who lives in Pottsdam, N.Y.

They were away from the Pittsburgh area for 20 years, coming back two years ago after living in Ohio for nine years and then Florida for 11.

In August 2018, the Galias were heading to the Wilkes Barre-Scranton area on Interstate 80 to meet their daughter and son-in-law so they could pick up their dog to watch it for them while they were on their honeymoon. According to a news report, they were in Union County when Galia said their SUV was rear-ended, causing it to roll at least four times.

“We didn’t think we were going to make it that day,” she said.

While her husband recovered and went back to work after eight months, Galia said she is still suffering from the severe concussion and other injuries and remains unable to work. She had been executive director of a fine arts center in Florida, and was a front desk secretary for UPMC for six months before the crash.

While she can’t work, she can make masks.

“I can’t go and sit at an office or work somewhere on an eight-hour basis,” she said. “This is something I can do on my own time frame. If I can only work half an hour, I do half an hour. If I can do an hour, I do an hour. It makes me feel I can give back a little bit to the people who are out there every day.”

Galia started making masks with an old sewing machine at her kitchen table. She moved her workstation to her craft room and begun using another sewing machine that can better handle the load.

At the start, she was expecting to be able to make 10 masks a day. Now, she sometimes makes up to 30 in a day, depending on how she feels.

So far, she’s gone through 500 yards of elastic and 50 yards of fabric.

Each mask is packaged with a thank you note that includes a poem she wrote and a few pieces of candy.

Locally, Galia said she’s given masks to people at stores and restaurants, post offices in Tarentum and Freeport, and the Summit Hose fire department. She’s sent them to her daughter in New York, her son in Arizona, her goddaughter in North Carolina and to her brother, who manages home health care nurses in Florida.

Tarentum Councilwoman Carrie Fox said she contacted Galia to thank her for her donation to Summit Hose. Since, Galia has made masks for other borough firefighters and paramedics, police and council members.

“I can’t get over it,” Fox said. “She’s just absolutely incredible. It touches my heart to know that somebody local in our community is doing something that’s such a great deed.”

Galia said she’ll keep making masks as long as there’s a need and she has the supplies to do it.

“I’m a very independent person. All of a sudden, you have to lean on your family and friends for help and it’s difficult,” she said. “I’ve worked my whole life. You get to the point you get depressed because you don’t feel like you’re pulling your weight. Being able to do this and touch peoples’ lives has meant just as much to me as it has to them. I feel like I’m doing something that can help.”