Three Georgia women launch organization to help make masks for hospitals fighting coronavirus
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ATLANTA - Amid the growing need for protective gear in hospitals and medical centers across the country fighting the coronavirus pandemic, three women in Georgia have joined forces to provide for essential workers in their community.
However, their organization -- which started out as Sewing Masks for Atlanta Hospitals -- has expanded from their greater Atlanta community to hospitals across the southeast.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I just want to help make this situation a little bit better," Kayla Hittig, one of the organization's co-founders, told Fox News. “We were not planning to have it grow this big, but the way the distribution system is set up we’ve gotten 11,000 masks out."
The organization now has thousands who are working to help the men and women on the frontlines.
Masks created by 'Sewing masks for Atlanta hospitals'
The Pruitt Health - Union Pointe facility is one of the fifty health care facilities that have received masks from the organization thus far.
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Jonathan Thomas, the administrator at the facility, told Fox News the need for masks quickly changed after the donation.
PruittHealth - Union Pointe healthcare workers say thank you for donations to protect them during COVID-19.
“We went from being open with visitors, with no restrictions, no masks – to a point now where we are completely closed off except for essential,” Thomas said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The coronavirus pandemic evolves daily and Thomas said things in the health care facility can change within an hour, and the masks were exactly what they needed.
“It’s one of the first times in my entire life I’ve been on the receiving end of a donation. That act of kindness was phenomenal, it was a breath of fresh air," he said.
Health care worker wears masks provided by 'Sewing Masks for Atlanta hospitals'
The donation included nearly 500 masks that they are rolling out to their partners as they come to work.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to 'Sewing Masks for Atlanta Hospitals, they deliver masks based on direct requests from facilities.
“We have what we are calling a zero-contact distribution system, so we have a group that just focuses on materials, so they get materials that were either donated or bought,” Hittig said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Since the organization began in March, it has set up affiliate chapters in southern Mississippi, central Florida, and Alabama to help with the demand from hospitals and health care facilities.
“We thought there was maybe going to be 1,000 people on the Facebook page the entire time of the crisis; we had 1,000 people join every day for the first week,” Hittig said.
'Sewing Masks for Area Hospitals - Atlanta' Facebook page has reached over 8 thousand
“At the beginning, it was a very much on-the-fly, kind of figuring out as we go. We’re now three weeks in and we do have a very more-defined process. We’ve onboarded 17 other people, we’re a team of now 20 administration-wise and we have volunteer drivers,” Hittig said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Due to the growing need, health care workers are still without the necessary PPE they need, but ‘Sewing masks for Atlanta hospitals’ said this is a step in the right director.
“These masks will make a difference for a very long time. I know when they made these masks, the masks were really made to protect us from COVID as well as the residents from COVID -- I doubt they will ever consider the impact it would have on morale,” Thomas said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If you would like to help the organization, which provides masks across the southeast, visit ‘Sewing Masks for Atlanta Hospitals’ on Facebook or SMAHatlanta.org.