Sheriff’s Office Displays Masks

FAYETTEVILLE — The Washington County Extension Homemakers Council, Master Gardeners and 4-H members made and donated more than 5,814 face masks in five weeks to help decrease the spread of the covid-19 virus in Northwest Arkansas.

The Homemakers Council (EHC) organization has a long history of organizing and taking action, especially during times of crisis. They ran soup kitchens during the flu epidemic of 1918, canned vegetables during the flood of 1927 and throughout the Great Depression. EHC has been addressing local needs for over a hundred years through community service, education, and leadership development.

As the covid-19 pandemic took hold, EHC found a new way to serve their communities: sewing cloth face masks that can offer some protection to those who have to be out in public. Local health care facilities and public safety staff identified the need and asked for sewn face masks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear face coverings in public settings, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, where it is difficult to maintain social distancing.

The masks can: Prevent you from touch--ing your nose and mouth and spreading germs from your hands Protect your nose and

mouth from large infected respiratory droplets from other people’s sneezes and coughs, but they don’t protect against tiny aerosol particles Keep others safe by limit-ing the transfer of infected respiratory drops from your coughs and sneezes onto surfaces that others may touch

Council members partnered with other local Cooperative Extension Service volunteers to make the needed sewn masks. These volunteers included Washington County 4-H youth members, Master Gardeners, along with their family members and friends. They teamed together to make a difference in Northwest Arkansas. Donated fabric has helped keep costs down, as sewing continues, making more masks daily.

These masks have been donated to more than 45 health care, public safety and service facility personnel connected to Northwest Arkansas.

Learn how you can get involved with Washington County EHC, volunteer to sew masks, or share a need for masks in the community. Contact the Washington County EHC President Martha Brown at brown martha796@gmail.com or call/text 479-387-8138 or the Washington County Cooperative Extension Agent Anna Goff at agoff@uaex.edu or call/text 479-841-1212.

ANNA GOFF IS WITH THE U OF A SYSTEM DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE.

COURTESY PHOTO Staff with Washington County Sheriff’s Office show off their masks they received from Washington County Extension Homemakers Council, Master Gardeners and 4-H members.