In this uncertain time, it can feel disempowering to hear that the best thing you can do is to sit at home. However, there is something you can do without leaving your house! Please check your utility closet or workbench to see if you have dust masks that you can donate.
You may have heard about “N95” masks and figure you don’t have such specialized equipment at your home. However, if you’ve ever started a renovation project or have other crafting hobbies, the “dust masks” you bought are likely bonafide N95s that our frontline medical personnel can use. Please just check the packaging. To donate, please go to mask-match.com — you can get the U.S. Postal Service to pick up the masks from your house.
Mask-match.com is an organization I’ve created with others across the country in just the past two weeks, and we’ve already shipped over 60,000 masks directly to medical personnel. It’s a local organization as well. I’ve built it while I’ve been stuck self-isolating here in my parents’ in-law apartment off of State Street.
This is personal to me, as my brother Tyler (we both graduated from Northampton High School in 2006) is currently a frontline nurse in a hospital in Orlando, Florida, putting himself at risk daily. He is the real hero, among the many others risking their lives to take care of us all in this crisis.
Please do your part and check your utility closet today. There is a real chance that a mask gathering dust in there can be a part of the solution and save a life. We owe this much to the real heroes in our community, and I promise you’ll feel better about the world, even just by taking the few moments to check.
Colin Schimmelfing
Northampton