Sewing to Stop the Spread was a rapid response initiative to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Early on in the pandemic, we organized people who knew how to sew and distributed home-made masks when there was a drastic mask shortage. After organizing, we teamed up with another group called the Masked Warriors of Hudson Valley and together we recruited over 80 people to volunteer to sew and we distributed somewhere between 8,000-9,000 masks. We distributed masks to EMTs, police stations, grocery stores, hospitals, and dozens of different kinds of businesses. In the end of 2020 organizers Damian DePauw and Jenny Rescigno received NYS Senate Commendation Awards from Senator James Skoufis on behalf of the NYS Senate. Masks are now abundant and thankfully, the pandemic is over so Sewing to Stop the Spread is dormant. We still have dozens of sewing volunteers though who remain ready to organize again should the need arise!
