Donation helps get masks to those in need
A significant donation from the International Grenfell Association (IGA) has helped get more cloth masks to Labradorians who need them, says Cathy Jong, volunteer organizer of Clothmasks4labrador.
The group, which started in mid-april, is working to get cloth masks to everyone in Labrador, and Jong said it’s been going great.
“It’s stunning how well its gone, really” she said. “There are people in almost every community making these, or will be soon.”
She said the $25,000 donation from the IGA has kept the supply of materials going for the last month and helped with the cost of shipping masks and materials.
“For more than 100 years, the IGA has supported projects and initiatives that serve to enhance the well-being of the residents of northern Newfoundland and coastal Labrador,” IGA chairperson Keating Hagmann stated in a news release. “The current COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and is the most devasting public health, economic and social emergency of our time.”
He said the IGA welcomes innovative, communitydriven initiatives such as Clothmasks4labrador that aim to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the association is pleased to support this project and is “inspired by the interest and involvement of all communities throughout Labrador.”
Jong said in the Lake Melville region alone they’ve given out over 1,500 masks so far, and sent supplies or masks to most communities in Labrador.
They’ve had a number of groups help ship and distribute the masks for them, such as the Labrador Friendship Centre in Happy Valleygoose Bay and the Nunatukavut Community Council.
“The support people have been giving, in addition to the financial support, has been incredibly helpful. The real trick is getting people to wear these masks. We’re not over that hump yet.”
They do need more funding to keep everything going, Jong said, so they hope more businesses offer to help.
Other groups have sprung up in Labrador to make cloth masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19, such as a team of sewers and others in Labrador West who have sewn and distributed 755 masks in Labrador West as of Tuesday. They have been distributing information through their Facebook page, A Mask for Everyone in Labrador West.
Noreen Careen, chair of the Twin Cities 50+ Seniors group, said she was approached to help with the intake and delivery of the masks, and found some funding from Helpagecanada to help with material and delivery costs of the masks.
They’ve also gotten a number of donations from individuals through the seniors club, Careen said, which they have been paying forward through gift cards for seniors to grocery stores to help them through these difficult times.
Careen, along with Shannon Curlew and Laetitia Feller, found just under 20 sewers in the region to help, and they’ve been busy.
“The initial rush has slowed down a fair bit, but it’s still steady. People still need masks,” Careen said. “We were busy, busy, busy. We made a lot of deliveries. People who got them are very grateful. Not everyone has the ability to.”
They have been working on getting them to vulnerable populations such as seniors, Careen said, but will get a mask for anyone who needs it.
To see these different groups come up with similar ideas independently to help Labradorians is great, she said, and says a lot about the people of the Big Land.
Clothmask4labrador can be reached by emailing cloth. masks.hvgb@gmail.com, and the Labrador West group can be reached via its Facebook page or by email at careen@ crrstv.net.