Mass Mask Giveaway Spreads Safety

Dozens of volunteers filled the median and sidewalks of Winchester Avenue in Science Park to give out tens of thousands of free masks to eager recipients who honked and cheered as they laid their hands on the hard-to-find protective face coverings.

That mask giveaway took place Tuesday morning and early afternoon outside of the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology’s (ConnCAT) headquarters at 4 Science Park.

Wearing bright yellow reflective safety vests, latex gloves, and a mix of reusable cloth coverings and disposable surgical masks, volunteers worked from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. handing out zip-lock plastic baggies containing five masks each.

The event was organized by Masks for CT and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, Varick AME Memorial Zion Church, ConnCAT, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven, and Yale University, among other partners.

Jewish Federation CEO Judy Alperin and Mask for CT’s Amy Stefanowski (pictured above) said that the groups planned to hand out 50,000 free Level 1 FDA-approved surgical masks on Tuesday, which marked the group’s first New Haven giveaway.

“Things are going like clockwork,” Alperin said, praising the city police and fire departments for helping with traffic management.

Stefanowski said that her group initially sought to raise money to buy masks for hospitals, nursing homes, and first responders throughout the state. When she saw the need for masks even beyond those working on the front lines of this crisis, she broadened her group’s outreach to include giving out masks en masse to anyone who needs them.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended since early April that members of the general public wear cloth face coverings and non-medical grade masks when out in public to reduce the likelihood of community spread of the novel coronavirus. While most masks do not protect one from contracting the virus, they can be effective in keeping asymptomatic carriers from accidentally spreading the virus by sneezing or coughing on others.

“This is a powerful show of unity,” said ConnCAT President and CEO Erik Clemons (pictured). ​“I think it’s a very powerful gesture for people to come together to distribute equipment to folks to help fight this virus.”

Clemons added that, in addition to the 4 Science Park distribution, ConnCAT staffers canvassed the Newhallville and Dixwell neighborhoods Tuesday morning, knocking on doors and handing out masks to those unable to make it down to the main distribution site on Winchester Avenue.

A line of cars inched down Division Street from Prospect Hill before turning south on Winchester, where volunteers greeted them with the baggies filled with masks.

They delivered the masks by handing the plastic baggies directly to the driver through a car’s open front window, or by tossing the baggies into a car’s back seat for those drivers who rolled down their cars’ back windows.

The volunteers, smiling and waving, asked the drivers to repay the favor by honking and cheering in support. A chorus of honks erupted from nearly every car that passed through.

“People are really appreciative,” said Newhallville/Prospect Hill Alder Kim Edwards (pictured).

The mask giveaway wasn’t just for drivers. Bikers and pedestrians also made their way up and down Winchester Avenue to get in on the mask handouts.

Nita Sukmono (pictured above at right with her husband, Indriyo) said she works at a 7‑Eleven convenience store in Hamden, and that her employer has been able to provide only a limited supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“I’m nervous all the time,” she said, even with the plexiglass screen that now separates her from customers at the convenience store’s checkout.

She and Indriyo, who is an Indonesian language instructor at Yale, said they tried ordering masks online, but that the soonest any company could deliver to their apartment at Winchester Lofts was July.

“It’s really good,” Nita said about the mask give away. ​“We really needed them.”

Tariq Sharif (pictured), a 23-year-old Newhallville resident, also praised the volunteer group for giving out free masks in the community. ​“It feels really good” to now have a mask, he said.

Sharif said he’s currently on unemployment and is also taking online courses at Gateway Community College. He said he found out about the mask giveaway from his grandma.

Patricia Jenkins-Simmons (pictured) came to Winchester Avenue Tusday not to pick up masks, but to help hand them out.

She said she turned out to volunteer along with several friends who are all part of the Ms. Millionaire Mindset Sisterhood.

Jenkins-Simmons said she works in mental health care, and has seen firsthand the toll that the pandemic has had on the mental and physical health of many of her friends, family, and patients.

“We want to see these numbers go down,” she said about infection, hospitalization, and death rates, particularly in working-class black and brown communities like Newhallville and Dixwell.

“If we don’t take care of our New Haven,” she asked, ​“who will?”