Approaching 1 Million Masks – Can You Help?

Denise Doring VanBuren, President General

Beginning March 21, 2020, DAR members around the world began to step forward in an all-volunteer effort to sew masks and other pieces of Personal Protective Equipment for their neighbors in need. In the nearly one year since, tens of thousands of those volunteers have made and donated an astounding total of 936,164 items (823,546 face masks and 112,618 other PPE).

With little more than two weeks to go in observing the one-year anniversary of the effort, we find ourselves fewer than 65,000 reported items away from having made 1 million pieces.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to reach that milestone as an illustration of our vibrancy and our devotion to serving our communities? What a marvelous illustration of our National Society’s relevancy, despite a pandemic and resulting restrictions!

We believe that many masks have gone unreported, and I ask you to add yours to the total in coming days as we creep toward this milestone achievement.  To volunteer, simply sign up herehttp://fssdar.com/sta/volunteer/ (it’s easy!). Then be sure to record your contributions here: http://surveymonkey.com/r/DARSTA2020 (it’s easy, too!).

It’s so-simple-yet-so-rewarding to be a part of this grassroots effort, which can connect you to schools and other locations that are still in need of PPE if necessary. I am immensely proud of all of the women who have been a part of this project, which will surely be remembered long after the pandemic is behind us. Thank you to everyone who has been involved.

It’s been a joy to see the numbers recorded from states large and small – please make sure that yours are included within your state’s overall tally. Here were the totals as of this March 3:

Alabama 13,209
Alaska 1,458
Arizona 29,245
Arkansas 7,674
Bahamas 290
California 46,267
Canada 15
Colorado 18,881
Connecticut 12,953
Delaware 2,729
Florida 60,674
France 125
Georgia 26,945
Germany 195
Guam 126
Hawaii 1,097
Idaho 8,681
Illinois 21,700
Indiana 26,049
Iowa 5,162
Kansas 19,692
Kentucky 44,112
Louisiana 27,064
Maine 1,544
Maryland 23,025
Massachusetts 12,970
Michigan 42,457
Minnesota 7,998
Mississippi 6,464
Missouri 28,125
Montana 1,198
Nebraska 5,165
Nevada 3,259
New Hampshire 5,980
New Jersey 17,410
New Mexico 4,796
New York 12,080
North Carolina 27,691
North Dakota 1,385
Ohio 27,681
Oklahoma 11,543
Oregon 78,109
Pennsylvania 36,074
Rhode Island 9,552
South Carolina 10,287
South Dakota 2,177
Tennessee 26,161
Texas 77,230
Utah 14,009
Vermont 1,195
Virginia 28,471
Washington 20,331
Washington, D.C. 883
West Virginia 8,057
Wisconsin 6,864
Wyoming 1,650

Total 936,164

Imagine the lives that we have touched by supporting emergency service providers, medical professionals, students, Native Americans and other fellow citizens through this Service From Home project. Thank you, participants, for Rising and Shining so splendidly!

Can we make it to 1 million by March 21? Knowing all of YOU, I bet we can! Stay tuned!

send-a-commentSend Us a comment