Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of North Memphis elected officials and nonprofits started a fundraising campaign to give constituents more access to masks and limit the virus’ spread.

The “Mask for Memphis” campaign launched in April with the goal of raising $50,000 and using those funds to distribute 5,000 free face masks to people who would otherwise not have access to them.

North Memphis officials want to distribute free masks

Wearing a mask or facial covering is seen as one critical way to reduce contracting or transmission of coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The leaders behind the fundraising campaign were City Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas and State Rep. Antonio Parkinson. Some of the nonprofits involved include North Memphis-based Our Grass Our Roots and Frayser’s Legacy of Legends Community Development Corp.

“I think it just shows we really want the best for our constituents,” Easter-Thomas said. “You can’t wait on other people to do things.”

“Mask for Memphis” raised about $25,000 during the past four months and distributed 2,600 masks at multiple events in Raleigh, Frayser and other North Memphis neighborhoods. Masks provided through the fundraiser are washable and reusable.

Each elected official involved in the project donated $125 to start the fundraising campaign, Parkinson said.

Neighborhoods those elected officials and nonprofits represent – including Frayser and Raleigh – are majority Black and Latino, Parkinson said, both disproportionately affected by the coronavirus in Shelby County.

Black people represent 59% of cases and deaths, despite representing 52% of the population, according to U.S. Census data. The Hispanic population comprise 21% of coronavirus cases, while making up 6% of the county’s population.

Charlie Caswell runs the Legacy of Legends CDC, a nonprofit that provides services for families dealing with childhood trauma. Community leaders like Caswell help inform people about campaigns like “Masks for Memphis.” He said it is critical that local leaders in North Memphis are on the same page.

“To have our political leaders to make this is a priority has been very important,” Caswell said.

In July, the Shelby County Health Department issued a countywide mask mandate as new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increased to all-time high levels. This followed the city of Memphis instituting a mask ordinance in June, one co-sponsored by Easter-Thomas.

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However, when “Masks for Memphis” launched in April, masks were only strongly recommended and not required.

“This idea was created pre-mask ordinance, but still with knowledgeability that Black folk in underserved community (according to) data seemed to be more susceptible to the COVID-19 virus,” Easter-Thomas said.

“Masks for Memphis” organizers wanted to go a step further than solely distributing free masks through purchasing them in bulk online. The masks given away are designed by local craft makers, predominantly in North Memphis.

“We didn’t want to go out and purchase masks, we wanted to empower people in our community that were already sewing masks and creating masks,” Parkinson said. “So they could generate income for their households, because a lot of people were off from work.”

While this means the giveaways are spaced out, because it takes longer for local crafters to produce the masks, the benefits are worth it, Easter-Thomas said.

“Masks for Memphis” is halfway to reaching its original goal in both money raised and masks distributed. Parkinson hopes the campaign continues beyond that.

“People have been contributing and people have been extremely supportive of the initiative,” Parkinson said.

The date for future “Masks for Memphis” giveaways event are not set, though the next one should occur in a couple of months.