Thousands of masks are being delivered to educators in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools system over the next couple of days.
A group known as Community For Safe Schools spearheaded a fundraiser on social media to purchase masks for teachers and staff in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. That led to a partnership with Wake Forest Baptist Health and the district.
The medical center is donating 30,000 KN95 masks for the initiative. The group is also providing more than 8,000.
“It's really incredible," says Sarah Green, a parent with two children in the school system who is one of the local organizers. "I think this has been a time of crisis for our community and communities across the country and this is an example of innovative ways that community partnerships work together to meet the needs and support our schools.”
Volunteers are packaging the masks at a local church. Each educator will receive four.
“Equitable distribution of resources is something that's really important to us, to make sure that everyone who wants high-quality masks has access to that,” says Green.
The group is also distributing child-sized surgical masks to help schools in underserved communities.
The masks will be delivered to schools through Friday.
This comes as the district's final reopening phase is moving forward. High school students will return to classrooms for in-person instruction on Monday.
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