Well finally got them done. Since I'm still in lock down wasn't in any hurry. It was what I call a rummage project. I rummaged through my assortment of junk and found a little of this and a little of that.
Found some nice nylon cord, but it wasn't thick enough to suite me, so I braided 3 strands together for my pulls/handles. Cut the boards 10" along with scrap plywood, glued & screwed, as suggested. Drilled a 1/4' hole into a 9/16 hole. slide the twine into the 1/4" hole & up through the top. Tied a knot in the twine and pulled back into the larger hole. Did this on both sided then filled the holes with Gorilla glue.
This should do the trick.