Masks, Face Shields Fly In Fair Haven

For stop number six of his community mask-giveaway mission, Rodney Williams distributed 10,000 adult and kids’ masks Thursday afternoon to Fair Haveners.

Williams, the owner of Green Elm Construction, gave out more children’s masks in Fair Haven than in any other neighborhood.

Williams left with only empty boxes by 6 p.m. after handing out 6,000 kids’ and 4,000 adult masks outside of Junta For Progressive Action on Grand Avenue to help families prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Williams has been making stops in neighborhoods throughout the city to distribute the bulk of masks for free. With personal funding and sponsorship from Giordano Construction, Williams plans to hit Whalley Avenue and the Hill neighborhood next.

Williams got help from the staff of Junta and WYBC-FM to distribute and put together packages of ten masks in plastic bags. The team gave out all the masks within about three hours.

“Four adults and three kids,” said Carmen De Leon, 44 who picked up masks for her household. De Leon has lived in Fair Haven all her life. She said the city needs to do better with keeping Fair Haven updated. ​“I didn’t even know numbers were up. And it’s probably a lot right here,” she said. ​“We are trying to be safe but it’s hard.”

De Leon said she is the only adult of four who can leave her house. For safety her family has decided to lessen how many of them leave the house daily.

Williams gave many residents extra bags of masks. ​“Two kids? Here’s 40 for you,” he said to one neighbor. Some walked off with as many as 100 kids’ masks.

Williams lived in Fair Haven at one point in his life and raised some of his kids there. ​“I knew I was going to have to bring more kids masks than usual,” he said. ​“I want to help the communities that helped me to get to where I am.”

Junta Interim Executive Director Bruni Pizarro stood on the sidewalk on Grand Avenue informing residents of the giveaway.

“Máscaras gratis aquí,” Pizarro called out to a group walking by across the street. The group of five stopped and crossed the street. Mother of two Karissa Rodríguez, 27, was on her way home from C‑Town with her kids and teenage younger brother and sister. The family picked up 60 kids’ masks and 80 adult masks from Williams.

Rodríguez also bought a $2 Spiderman face shield for her two boys to share. ​“They take them off a lot and drop them then its garbage. They can’t put it from the floor outside to their face,” said Rodríguez.

While at C‑Town grocery shopping, Rodríguez said, she had to ask the staff for a new mask twice because both her sons dropped theirs on the store floor.

One woman picked up 20 masks from Williams. He then advised her to switch her current one to a fresh one. ​“Take that old one off please. Something is better than nothing, but you have them now so get rid of that dirty one,” he said.

Williams said he’s tired of seeing residents wearing the same masks over again

“If the city knows it’s important to wear a mask, why aren’t there distribution sites? Anything? This is their job. They need to step up,” he said.

Chatham Square organizer Lee Cruz stopped by to show support for Williams and Junta. Cruz picked up face shields for his family. Each shield came with a matching face mask. ​“This is great. Many think with a shield they don’t need a mask, but they do,” Cruz said.

Fair Haveners walked away with their hands full of dozens of masks.

“Tell your friends to come on over. No questions asked,” Williams told residents.

Williams also sells masks in bulk for half the price of local stores, he said. A box of 50 adult masks cost $5 and can be bought by the thousands.

So far Williams has done five other giveaways based in different neighborhoods.

Vickie Anderson had no mask when she walked up to Williams’ table. ​“I just see how much these store added on to the prices of them. It’s no fair. I can’t bring myself to waste the extra money on a box,” she said. As she walked off with 20 masks, she took one from the package and put it on.

The adult masks ran out by 5 p.m. and the the kids’ masks by 6. Williams usually would bring about 2,500 kids masks to his neighborhood giveaways, but this time around he knew he had to bring way more to serve the many multi-generational homes in Fair Haven.

“When I come back we ain’t going to run out,” Williams said as he promised to return to Fair Haven.