OKANOGAN – There is a shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Okanogan County Public Health has been putting out a call for donations of homemade masks.
“Community members have been coming to the rescue by stepping up to sew and donate handmade masks. There has been amazing support by the community to provide homemade masks to healthcare providers,” says the latest press release from Public Health.
There are many donation drop sites throughout the county.
Masks collected from the following five sites will be taken to Emergency Management and distributed to healthcare workers throughout the county:
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Brewster: Webster’s Furniture Store (332 Main Ave). When open, inside on the table to the left. When closed, outside the front door.
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Okanogan: Okanogan County Public Health (1234 2nd Ave. S) inside first set of doors – only available during business hours.
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Omak: Omak Police Department (8 N. Ash St.), right outside the front door
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Tonasket: Tonasket High School (35 HS Hwy 20), right outside the main entrance
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Oroville: Northwest Wholesale Office (1229 Ironwood), outside front door
The masks collected from the following four sites will be distributed by Methow Valley PPE. Please see their website for more details: https://methowvalleyppe.wixsite.com/website
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Mazama: Mazama Store (50 Lost River Rd)
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Winthrop: Town Hall (Riverside Ave)
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Twisp: Twisp Valley Grange (344 W 2nd Ave)
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Pateros: Pateros Brewster Community Resource Center (169 Pateros Mall, Suite A)
Masks collected at the following two sites will be distributed on the Colville Reservation.
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Nespelem: The Command Center at the Government Building (21 Colville St)
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Nespelem: Indian Health Services building (17 Lakes St)
Coming Soon
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Coulee Dam
Information on making and donating masks is shared frequently on the Okanogan County COVID-19 Crafters and Sewers Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/501278967214839/). Please check there for updated information.
These masks are currently being used in non-clinical settings and for patients. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only recommend using these masks (or other non-traditional options) for frontline staff when nothing else is available. The frontline staff would utilize these when all other options are depleted. Okanogan County Public Health hopes that is not necessary, but says they need to be as prepared as possible.
