CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several community service organizations in West Virginia have hundreds of new KN-95 protective masks to use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Martin Luther King Jr. State Holiday Commission distributed masks this week to five organizations that help underserved communities including Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless, Huntington City Mission, Roark-Sullivan Lifeway Center in Charleston, Sojourner’s Shelter for Homeless Women and Families in Charleston, and the Tug River Medical Center in Gary.
The mask distribution reflects the MLK Day theme of ‘The Urgency of Creating the Beloved Community’ by providing masks to help protect the communities these organizations serve, Upson said.
She added that the commission purchased the masks through funds that were leftover at the end of the fiscal year from the budget. She said they had a small amount of money leftover due to the COVID-19 pandemic shifting events.
“All of the commissioners said they wanted to do something to help with the pandemic. We decided that the purchase of the masks would be an appropriate way to use what small amount of funds we had left in our budget,” Upson said.
3,000 masks were received from the medical mask provider including 2,000 that were donated by the provider. 500 masks went to each of the five organizations and the commission kept 500 for its own use.
Upson said the donation by the company reassures the commission that there are people out there that want to help.
“Going forward, that signals we do have a lot of opportunity as a commission to do more as far as reaching out in the community. I think the sponsorship and the donations would continue to flow in,” Upson said.