(Above photo courtesy Bobby Hermida)
ORLANDO | Dozens of community members have committed to making thousands of protective masks for underserved essential workers who work in the Semoran Blvd. area near Orlando International Airport.
“Mask the People” is a community-led project to make and distribute 3,000 reusable cloth masks to workers and families in the Orlando zipcode region 32822, one of the areas hardest hit by COVID-19 in Orange County.
“While the Semoran corridor has been our region’s biggest hot spot week after week, members of this community are still not wearing the most essential protective gear,” says community leader Rebecca M. Fernandez who is spearheading the project.
Fernandez says the area they are making the mask for is more than 66% Latinx, 78% non-white and are working-class people.
“There are multiple areas where population density exceeds 8,000 per square mile,” she says. “Many of the families in this community are near or below the poverty line. This puts this community at greater risk for transmission and mortality, and makes the stakes for missing work even higher.”
The protective masks are being constructed with donated materials and are sewn together by a team of more than 60 volunteer sewers.
“The front of the mask is made from the fabric of twin-size bed sheets and the straps are from t-shirts,” says Bobby Hermida, one of the project’s volunteer sewers.
The “Mask the People” project received a large donation of bed sheets from Paolo Girard at Lake Buena Vista Resort & Spa and the t-shirts were donated by David Rodriguez at Impulse Orlando, an LGBTQ group that focuses on raising awareness and educating members of the community on HIV prevention and care.
Other local organizations partnering with “Mask the People” include the Hispanic Federation, Crafting is the Best Medicine, the Million Mask Challenge, Orlando Face Mask Strong, Project Street Light the C3 Church and a number of faith based communities, with the support of City Commissioner Antonio Ortiz, Orlando City Soccer and UCF Theatre.
“We are community members concerned about the increased rate of transmission and mortality of COVID-19 in this high-risk community with little resources,” Fernandez says. “Our collaboration of volunteers are a diverse tapestry of community members who cut, sew, distribute, deliver, design and package [the masks]. They’re young and old, able-bodied and wheelchair-bound, Muslim and Christian, [LGBTQ] and straight, single moms and families of five, Republicans and Democrats, those with fancy new machines and some with antiques, and some even sewn by hand. These folks are from all walks of life and have seen the need and know there’s no time to wait.”
Hermida — who has been working with a team of LGBTQ community activists including Sam Graper, Andres Acosta, Curtis Langley, Gio Thompson, Austin Bristor, Michael Lerardi and more to make the masks in a volunteer’s home — says that as of May 8, just nine days into the project, the volunteers have already assembled nearly 1,000 masks.
Fernandez says at the rate they are going they on track to surpass their goal, and with their growing number of volunteers and their passion, hope to help by making masks for other Central Florida hot spots as long as they have the materials.
If you would like more information on the “Mask the People” project, find out how to volunteer or donate materials, email MaskThePeopleNow@gamil.com.
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