The Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility (jail) has nearly 1,000 people imprisoned currently. The jail is incredibly high risk for a coronavirus outbreak. They do not currently have any masks to give to individuals who are incarcerated.
We are gathering donations of masks for this group of people, to help protect them from a large COVID-19 outbreak. We can use all the help we can get. Our goal is to have 500 masks made by April 13th and another 500 by April 20th, if not sooner.
Instructions (based on CDC recommendations for DIY cloth face covering):
Find all the old t-shirts or other tightly woven cotton fabric you have in your home. Please DO NOT go out to stores to buy material.
Laying the material flat, use sharp scissors to cut the fabric 10 inches from the bottom (depending on the size of the t-shirt, you may be able to get 2-3 strips)
The fabric will now be a loop. Cut the sides of the t-shirt to create two rectangles. This is all you need to do.
Launder in hot water and dry thoroughly.
Directly after drying, place them in a paper bag.
Set aside the parts of the t-shirts that you didn't use, we have another upcoming project that will use these!
Take bag of fabric to safe drop-off location at EBS. There will be a black rubbermaid bin behind the building and under the carport labeled MASKS FOR THE JAIL. Please use the Clorox wipes provided to open and close the bin. Be mindful to wash or sanitize your hands afterwards.
On every Monday until we reach our goal, we will collect donated masks and launder again. Once clean and dry, we will give the masks directly to the sheriff's office who will distribute the masks at the jail. From there, people will be instructed on how to use 2 rubber bands and these rectangles of fabric to make a simple cloth mask using a video tutorial from the Surgeon General.
Thank you for any help you can provide! Please contact Colleen Zaller or Meg Gorvine if you have questions or comments about this project
