Over 950 face masks were provided to four food pantries in Mercer County as the requests for help in a time of food scarcity started to sky rocket. The Face Mask Project was spearheaded by Eileen Bird, Kevin Trayner and Sharon Copeland from UUCP’s Racial Justice Task Force.
It took many helping hands to bring such success! We are VERY grateful for the UUCP friends and members – and their friends – who played many different roles. Some donated fabric, sewed masks, helped collect by setting up boxes for sewn masks outside their front doors, delivered face masks to the pantries. Some cut up bed sheets and turned them into masks; others had quilting fabric and scraps from former projects that now became colorful masks. Some had previously ordered single use masks and donated those. Cheers to: Binnie, Nancy, Wei, Jane, Teresa, Meg, Helen, Sue, Suzanne, Patricia, Jane, Michael, Fran, Vicky, Faye, Susan, Mary, Blair, Dave, Gerry, Amelia, Alaka, Dorothy, Huai-Ping, Louise, Jeanne, Deborah, Sandy, Ruth, Faye, Minal, Valerie, Carol, Kathy, Lenore, Sandra, and the many anonymous helpers! Thank you so very much!!!
This effort came about when the Racial Justice Task Force (RJTF) reached out to RISE in Hightstown, TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) in Trenton, and Arm in Arm and HomeFront, both of which serve the entire county.
Since individual donations of food now require cleaning, and cleaning supplies and gloves have become hard to consistently get, food pantries have been adjusting their requests to include monetary donations, donations of boxes of shelf-stable food such as a box of canned tuna, or help with getting face masks to those who pick up the food. The RJTF felt they could particularly respond to making cloth face masks which are re-useable and can be washed with soap like washing your hands or laundered for multiple uses. The pocket in the face mask can accommodate paper toweling, cut up HEPA vacuum bags, flannel cloth and cotton batting, all of which help improve a mask’s effectiveness.
The initial goal was to distribute 700 face masks. We were able to distribute 730 cloth face masks for pantry recipients plus 220 disposable masks which are especially helpful for pantry volunteers and staff.
We also worked with other organizations. The Mercer Mask Project provided 400 cloth masks. This volunteer group works with hundreds of volunteer sewers and has made over 7,900 masks for healthcare providers. As that need reached fulfillment, they shifted to assisting non-profits and schools. The Arts Council of Princeton has been coordinating donations of fabric, cut to face mask patterns, with sewers, and then distributes to residents in Princeton. They contributed some of their masks to the RJTF project. The UUP members also enjoyed the support of friends and neighbors. One 55+ community in West Windsor made over 250 face masks.
The RJTF will gladly continue to accept face masks and ensure they are delivered to food pantries. Contact racialjustice@