Staff volunteers offer help with MaskUpMke Community Challenge.
Staff members from St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care will join forces to make 700 masks on Wednesday, May 13, at the center’s Bucyrus Campus, 2450 W. North Ave. The mask-a-thon will run from 10 a.m. to noon, addressing the urgent need to stem the spread of COVID-19.
The volunteer effort is part of the MaskUpMke challenge to create 3.5 million homemade non-surgical masks for healthcare providers and other essential service providers in Southeastern Wisconsin. St. Ann Center, an all-ages day care that serves children, frail elders and adults with disabilities, is temporarily closed as a precautionary measure prompted by the novel coronavirus.
Staff members—ranging from teachers to nursing assistants to administrators—will spread out in two large rooms at the Bucyrus Campus, located in the heart of Milwaukee’s north side, a community hit hard by the virus.
“We see this as an important way St. Ann Center can give back to our neighborhood and the Greater Milwaukee area.”
—Diane Beckley, Chief Operating Officer
St. Ann Center is partnering in MaskUpMke with United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County, the Milwaukee Bucks, Medical College of Wisconsin, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Zilber Family Foundation, Ignite Change, FiservForum, Rebel Converting and Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity.
Initially, the mask kits were designed to be taken home and assembled by individual families.
“I convinced United Way that St. Ann Center is a family,” Beckley said. “We have plenty of space for social distancing—each of our volunteers will have an entire table as a work station.”
Volunteers must answer questions before and after the mask-making session to ensure they are not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. After a 72-hour quarantine period, the face coverings will be distributed to the community under the guidance of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity will assist in the physical distribution to those most at risk of contracting COVID-19.
Beckley is also a member of Milwaukee’s Stronger Together Collective, a group formed to get information about the pandemic out to the African American community. “The mask-making project dovetails perfectly with this effort,” Beckley said. If all goes as planned, the St. Ann Center volunteers hope to complete a second box of 700 masks by the end of May.
Leave a Reply