Hawaii community members join forces to meet the demand for face masks

Apr. 19--In response to the great demand for protective masks during the, numerous schools have stepped up and are providing them to those in need--for free.

At Le Jardin Academy in Kailua, staff, students and their families are busy using 3D printers to make filtration masks, as well as forming sewing circles to make fabric face masks.

All of it is donated to hospitals and communities, mostly on the windward side. It is a community grassroots effort, according to Christina Hoe, associate director of experiential learning at Le Jardin.

Hoe said it all started when a parent who works with hospitals reached out to the head of school at Le Jardin to ask if anyone could help make masks with 3D printers similar to N95s. Across the U.S., volunteers are using 3D printers to make a mask prototype, called the " to donate to health care workers due to a national shortage.

This filtration mask is not approved by federal agencies as a replacement for N95s, but has been rigorously tested, according to founders, and has been accepted at major hospitals in numerous states, including Montana, California and Hawaii.

Hoe, originally from Montana, said she naturally wanted to help, and volunteered to become a coordinator for the project in Hawaii.

"It's the idea that schools have the capacity to reach out to their learning community, who can contribute, " said Hoe. "Schools have this incredible capacity to reach a lot of people, motivate and rally them."

In addition, the group is coordinating the donation of fabric face masks to community members who request them, as well as to hospitals and other organizations. Various windward schools, public and private, are working together to sew fabric face masks at home, including a hui of families.

Some have reached out to their grandparents to learn how to sew, and others--who do not know how to sew--have volunteered to cut fabric. Others are donating fabric or funds to assist with the efforts.

The team is making about 100 fabric face masks per week to give away. One parent is sewing for Shriners Hospitals for Children in Honolulu, and another is sewing for The Queen's Medical Center. At one point, there was a request for fabric face masks for sailors on a submarine, as well as for the homeless community.

What the pandemic has done, according to Hoe, is bring schools together.

"Basically, everybody who can help is helping, " she said.

Hoe rides around Kailua on a bicycle, and collects the masks from mail boxes, and delivers them to individuals who have requested them. Some have a person in their household who is immune compromised, for instance, or vulnerable kupuna.

"It's been interesting because everyone asks, 'How much do you want ?'" she said. "We don't want any money ... we want them to be safe ... and there's more than enough in our community to go around."

It has been awesome, she said, to see the "collective impact " of the community coming together.

The 3D printer masks, which require more work to produce, have been donated to workers at Adventist Health Castle as well as Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. Just last week, the group donated the 3D printer masks as well as fabric masks to first responders at Honolulu Emergency Medical Services.

Some of the health workers offering drive-thru testing have also requested protective face masks.

Hoe said the 3D printing efforts began in early March, and that 30 to 55 can be made per week.

Numerous schools are also using their 3D printers to provide much-needed personal protective equipment for health care workers, including Kalaheo High School and Kamehameha Schools.

to local hospitals, nursing homes and retirement homes.

In Honolulu, meanwhile, two public school teachers--and--both past recipients of "Dream Big Teacher Challenge " grants of $100, 000 each from Farmers Insurance--have been making and delivering face shield visors to health care workers.

Morgan is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teacher at Stevenson Middle School who had worked on prosthetics before, and Morita is a music teacher at Niu Valley Middle School. She printed the visors based on files and specs from Hawaii Pacific Health, and Morita volunteered to deliver them.

Numerous teachers with access to 3D printers from around the island--from Kaneohe and Jefferson elementary schools to Kapolei High School, stepped up and helped print visors.

With help from parents and students, they brought 500 face shield visors to Hawaii Pacific Health last Friday.

Hoe said she thinks manufacturers will eventually step up production, but for now, her group will continue to supply both the 3D printed masks and fabric face masks, as long as there is a need in the community.------------

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