Cadets from Civil Air Patrol Squadron led by 1Lt Carol-Faaland-Kronmaier, CAP Deputy Commander for Cadets, and Major Lorrainne Denby team up with Dr. Sarah Shell to provide masks for healthcare workers and hospitals and now to local non-profit organizations.
Originally the brain child of Dr. Sarah Shell, this mask making venture was born out of the fear of the shortage of N95 masks early on in the pandemic. Dr. Shell is a dentist with a design background who worked with a friend on a design of a mask that could be worn over N95 masks and allow for their reuse. In partnership with the New York City Facemask Initiative of Alternew, Sarah posted on her hometown Facebook group to ask for volunteers to assist in making masks and she was overwhelmed by the response. Her small venture grew (
https://www.smg-foundation.org/our-stories/masks-as-medicine-for-the-makers/) and gained the attention of the Civil Air Patrol Squadron (http://www.njwg.cap.gov/ ), Raritan Valley Composite Squadron, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, whose members have volunteered to join in sewing the masks for a broader distribution. Contributions to the Go Fund Me campaign were able to be expanded from New York to New Jersey.
To date the Civil Air Patrol has donated more than 7000 masks, and Catholic Charities’ Child Care Programs have received more than 250 masks to be worn by staff members and preschoolers. 1Lt Faaland-Kronmaier’s own son, now twenty years old and a Cadet, participated in Catholic Charities’ Child Care Programs in Somerset County when he was a young boy.
Catholic Charities Child Care Service Area Director, Krista Glynn is both grateful and relieved to receive this generous donation, “I can’t say enough about the wonderful work and donations that this group has made with the masks they have sewn for us. Carol has dropped off multiple bags of all differently sized masks, including a teenager size, with additional masks being sewn for our preschoolers. It is so heartening to experience how people come together to support each other during these challenging times. Additionally, it is touching to see how our on the ground work providing child care to families of Somerset County has come full circle so many years later.”
1Lt Carol-Faaland-Kronmaier described Disaster Response and Relief as one of the Civil Air Patrol’s (CAP’s) most critical Emergency Services missions, “This is an unconventional disaster. It's not a hurricane, flood or earthquake, but it's still a disaster, and CAP volunteers are needed in our communities and state. Because of the FEMA disaster declaration for NJ, 1st AF has authorized this as an Air Force Assigned Mission (AFAM) for CAP members. ”