A local clothing company has partnered with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) to provide fabric masks to those who need them the most.
Last Tuesday, the CKHA put out a call for cloth face mask donations to be used at their sites for outpatient appointments to help prevent the spread of COVID-19
Elizabeth Suni, the founder and president of Wooly Doodle, a Chatham-Kent based clothing company, launched a donation program to help produce handmade masks for the CKHA. “I was already thinking about ways in which we could use our Canadian-based supply chain to give back during this time and when I saw the call out from our local hospital I knew it was time to jump into action,” said Suni in a written statement.
Suni is asking for the community's help to make the donation program a success.
The cost to make each mask is $3.50. “We have donated all of the fabric to this important cause and the donation cost itself goes directly to covering the cost of having them sewn by the production company employees,” Suni added. “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to help. Anyone wishing to donate masks, can visit our website and purchase any number of masks and we will work with the CKHA to ensure they get in the hands of those most in need,”
Suni hopes to meet her donation goal of 1,000 masks by the end of April. She's received over 800 donations in the days following the program launch.
"Even during this time of uncertainty, I have felt a huge sense of togetherness within our community. We have the means to produce these masks and a community who wants to help and I knew if we worked together, we could really make an impact,” she said.
The CKHA will distribute the completed masks within the hospital to patients, outpatient visitors, and those coming in for diagnostic tests. The hospital will also work with community partners to distribute masks as needed.
More information about the donation program can be found on the Wooly Doodle website. Anyone willing and able to make and donate fabric masks can contact Fannie Vavoulis, with the CKHA at 519-352-6401 extension: 6143.