Southern Utah Seamstresses – Project Protect Kits
Volunteers Needed – Utahns are leading a worldwide effort known as Project Protect to ensure that frontline caregivers who are treating patients with COVID-19 have the protection they need, in order to be as safe as possible.
Southern Utahns are needed now to help complete this effort by picking up, sewing, and returning medical-grade masks, kits will be available for pickup, this Tuesday, May 12th, 2020.
If you would like to volunteer, go to https://www.justserve.org/projectprotect and scroll to the bottom of the page where St. George appears at the end of the “Week 4” options.
ProjectProtect is a collaborative effort between Intermountain Healthcare, the University of Utah Health, Latter-day Saint Charities, and several Utah nonprofits – which are all actively enlisting thousands of sewing volunteers across the state.
“The goal of this initiative is to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline caregivers, including more than five million medical-grade masks. This effort, in southern Utah, will help complete the volume of masks needed.” Terri Draper, Dixie Regional Communications Director.
“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, so please register through the Just Serve website and pick up a kit for your neighborhood or group of friends to help sew.”
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.
“We invite all who are able and willing to sew medical-grade masks to join us as we work together to ensure that caregivers battling COVID-19 have the equipment they need to stay safe,” said Dan Liljenquist, senior vice president, and chief strategy officer at Intermountain Healthcare, who leads this project for the company. “Your personal contributions to this effort will help save lives.”
All Utahns have the chance to get involved with this initiative. Gail Miller, chair of the Intermountain Board of Trustees and owner of the Utah Jazz recently made 200 masks. Her family made another 1,800.
To learn more about the ProjectProtect initiative, visit projectprotect.health
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