ST. GEORGE — After Southern Utahns came through by creating more than 300,000 medical-grade masks for caregivers on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been summoned for an encore performance.
Dixie Regional Medical Center and Intermountain Healthcare are seeking a few good locals and their sewing machines for a new effort to pick up free supplies, sew and return medical-grade masks as part of the ProjectProtect initiative.
“We are excited to receive kits locally so the many wonderful volunteers we have here can help Utah achieve this critical goal,” said Cathy Hohn, volunteer services manager at Intermountain Dixie Regional Medical Center. “We can use every willing person to help sew.”
ProjectProtect is a worldwide effort to ensure that frontline caregivers who are treating patients with COVID-19 have the protection they need to be as safe as possible.
The last effort in May saw cars driving up to drop-off stations with car trunks full of masks. More than five million medical-grade masks have been sewn to date statewide. The goal of Encore Week is to complete an additional million.
Kits can be picked up Tuesday at the 400 East campus of Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George. Times need to be reserved at this link.
ProjectProtect is a collaborative effort between Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health, Latter-day Saint Charities, and several Utah nonprofits to enlist thousands of sewing volunteers across the state. The goal of this initiative is to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline caregivers.
Volunteers need to have a sewing machine, thread, scissors, and pins. Polypropylene fabric and instructions are provided.
They will be asked to:
- Follow detailed instructions and use a sewing machine.
- Make 100 masks. Depending on the level of experience, each mask will take five to 10 minutes to sew.
- Spend 10 to 15 hours sewing, plus the time it takes to pick up the materials and drop of the finished masks.
- Register at https://www.justserve.org/projectprotect and receive an email confirmation with instructions. A printed copy of this confirmation email is necessary to pick up your materials kit at the Intermountain Dixie Regional Medical Center 400 East Campus.
To learn more about the ProjectProtect initiative, visit projectprotect.health.
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