Ten emergency hand washing stations have been installed outside supermarkets across the region to help residents protect themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are hopes the initiative will now expand.
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The project has been initiated to combat the global shortage of hand sanitiser, with general practitioner and anaesthetist Duncan Mackinnon saying good hygiene could save more lives during the COVID-19 pandemic than hospitals.
The scope of the project relies on the amount of the sanitiser that can be produced locally, and has already sparked interest from businesses outside the region.
Dr Mackinnon said at least 40 litres would be needed to supply Bega each week, and the distillery is able to produce at least 200 litres per week.
Over the weekend, the stations were placed in Eden, Pambula, Tathra and Bega, with the next batch of sanitiser due to be ready on Tuesday, he said he has already been approached by an organisation in Wagga Wagga looking to copy the grassroots model with a whiskey distillery.
"The logistics of having enough product and the re-supplying of each station is a work in progress. We are learning fast," Dr Mackinnon said.
"We hope people will take advantage of the resource and use the sanitising stations both before and after doing their shopping."
Local award-winning distillery North of Eden, who has converted it's business to producing the sanitiser, has sourced the valuable ingredient hydrogen peroxide from Bega veterinarians, and equipment from Pambula's Longstocking Brewery.
After switching their model due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has switched from gin to what is now called Stoney Creek Farm Distillery Hand Sanitiser, made to World Health Organisation standards.
"As a small, two person distillery, we felt this initiative was absolutely the best way for us to get sanitiser out to as many people in the community as possible, and have the biggest impact in reducing transmission rates," the business's Gavin Hughes and Karen Touchie posted online.
Bega Valley Shire Mayor Kristy McBain described the initiative as "wonderful", and said it is an example of "locals intent on looking out for each other".
"We saw it during our bushfire crisis when everyday people were the ones we relied upon and who stepped up and we're seeing that again," she said.
"It makes you understand that the sense of community here in the Bega Valley is second to none."
Dr Mackinnon said organisations including the Bendigo Bank, local Rotary groups, Lions clubs and Dr Mackinnon's own Bega Valley Medical Practice led Teen Clinic have supported the funding of the first batch of sanitiser.
