Portsmouth Press features Local 17 mask donations
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — Construction workers are going door-to-door in Rhode Island delivering a simple, critical tool to fight COVID-19: thousands of thin, metal strips. This one strip is helping a pregnant Portsmouth woman make masks for maternity ward healthcare workers.
As volunteers across New England sew homemade masks, members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 are backing them up by producing, donating, and hand-delivering metal nose strips to them. That’s the missing ingredient to make homemade masks effective at preventing the virus.
One local volunteer in Portsmouth, RI is 37 weeks pregnant and sewing masks for the maternity ward she plans to give birth in. When she received Local 17’s nose strips, she said she’ll always remember Local 17’s act of kindness.
Taken by volunteer mask-maker Renee Walker-Tuttle of Portsmouth, RI. She’s 37 weeks pregnant and sewing masks for the maternity ward she plans to give birth in. She said of Local 17’s delivery, “While this interaction lasted five minutes I will always remember this act of kindness.”
“While this interaction lasted five minutes I will always remember this act of kindness,” said Renee Walker-Tuttle of Portsmouth, RI.
(Photo Credit: International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers)
Together, these workers and volunteers are producing thousands of masks every day to fill the shortage faced by medical workers.
Taken by volunteer mask-maker Mary Ann Guillette. She said of the delivery, “Who would’ve thought this many tiny pieces of metal could make me so happy.”
(Photo Credit: International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers)
Read the full story online: https://www.portsmouthpress.com/2020/04/18/fighting-covid-19-pregnant-portsmouth-woman-uses-metal-strips-in-masks-for-maternity-ward-health-workers/
