COVID19 2021-04-15 Health Department Thanks Mask Makers, Redirects Mask Donations

One year ago, the Tompkins County Health Department and Emergency Operations Center launched a community mask making effort. Thousands of masks were made at the TST BOCES gymnasium during April-June 2020 and hundreds have been donated for the past year through drop-off locations throughout the County.

The organization, So Sew Many, and other groups of sewers successfully built mask collection boxes and placed them throughout the County. These small blue boxes served as convenient drop-off locations for volunteers who were sewing masks at home and wanted to donate them to others during the pandemic.

Many partners were involved in this effort:

• So Sew Many built the boxes and created a website to post the box locations.
• Tompkins County Administration and Health Department collected and distributed masks.
• Angelo’s Dry Cleaner and Laundry sanitized masks before they were distributed.
• Dry Cleaner’s at the Mall sanitized masks and fabric from the ReUse Center that was made available to home mask sewers.
• Many businesses hosted the collection boxes for the past year. See the full list on the So Sew Many website.

The Blue Box mask collection program has ended as of April 2021. All mask donations are now being directed to the Mutual Aid Food Cabinets located throughout the County. If you have a large mask donation, please contact Samantha Hillson, shillson@tompkins-co.org.

Tompkins County Public Health Director Frank Kruppa stated, “I want to thank all of the mask makers throughout our County who have participated in this program. This has been an incredible effort and has helped protect our community.” Kruppa continued, “I would like to thank Krys Cail for her effort to get the blue box program started and provide a safe way for sewers to donate masks during a time when we needed to keep our distance from others. I would also like to commend Peter Jesch, a local Boy Scout, who recently donated 200 masks to the Health Department as his Eagle Project.”

TCHD continues to urge everyone who is eligible to sign up for the Tompkins County COVID-19 Vaccine Registry.

For local updates and information, check the TCHD website.