by Kate Walters, Red Cross Public Affairs Volunteer
Red Cross volunteers and El Paso County staff have created hundreds of mask-making kits, each one containing the raw materials needed to construct 24 homemade masks. They are working to create enough kits to make 6,000 masks. Red Cross volunteers, Pam and Bob Munson, along with Bob Novack and Gary Huckabay worked together with the county to assemble and deliver the kits to groups of sewers who will then create the masks and then return them to El Paso County for distribution.
Volunteers Bob and Pam Munson recognize the strong desire that people have to give of their time and talent. Bob points out that we are a nation of volunteers. He tells us that “tens of millions of Americans volunteer their time each year.” In times of great need, people naturally want to find a way to help ease the burden that suffering causes.
In 2004 Bob, a retired Air Force physician, began deploying with the Red Cross health services team in response to national disasters. He has actually worked to control the spread of virus in evacuation shelters from California to The Carolinas and as far away as Puerto Rico. Pam decided to accompany him in response to the Campfire in November of 2018 in Northern California where she used her skills to help run a shelter.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, is very unique in that we have all been asked to stay home as much as possible and to wear masks in public, making an active contribution more of a challenge. With a shortage of masks, what better way to mobilize the power of volunteers in the community than to ask them to stay at home and create these masks? Volunteers compiled the necessary resources, put together kits containing fabric, elastic and nose pieces and directions to create 24 masks each.
Pam and Bob Munson then delivered the supplies around the county to local quilting groups, sewing shops and church groups. Soon they will return and pick up the completed masks. Pam Munson even took on the challenge of putting together 24 masks by herself. Pam says, “It feels great to be a part of something that is so vital right now. With so many people involved we can make a huge number of masks in a very short period of time and have a big impact.”
With all of his years of experience fighting the spread of viruses, Bob knows the value of limiting exposure to one another, “We absolutely could have flattened the curve and slowed the growth of the number of people who have been infected by this even more if we would have started to wear masks sooner. But we’re helping make this happen now, and it’s better late than never.”