Chelsea Company To Donate Thousands Of Reusable Masks To Local Schools
CHELSEA (CBS) - Chelsea-based Steele Canvas is kicking off a new "Buy One, Give One" campaign to donate thousands of reusable masks to schools in Massachusetts by giving 1,000 to the Spark Academy in Lawrence.
The company, known for their heavy-duty canvas hampers and baskets, began sewing masks out of their factory back in April. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Steele Canvas has donated about 46,000 masks.
Their new goal is 50,000, but this time the company is making sure masks go to local kids before the start of school.
"We were hoping we would be done making masks, we were hoping the pandemic wouldn't stick around but as we all know that's not the case. Now with schools coming back and so much uncertainty, we really wanted to get masks to kids who may not have access," Ryan Huston, Steele Canvas' marketing director, told WBZ-TV.
The latest "Buy One, Give One" campaign features the company's "Kids Mask Pack." Each pack contains 5 cotton, machine washable and reusable masks with adjustable ear loops. The mini masks are for kids in pre-K through elementary school and feature star, dragonfly, giraffe, stingray and polka dot prints.
"Masks can quickly distinguish between kids who have access to quality, reusable masks and those that don't. When things are really difficult for families and they're going through all the uncertainty in the world today, we didn't want this to be one more burden on those families so we really felt this was the small way we could do our part," Huston said about the donation.
"These prints are really cool, they're ones that students enjoy and our staff enjoys. It's really going to be a source of pride," Jeremiah Holtan, the dean of curriculum at Spark Academy, told WBZ.
For every 5-pack sold, Steele Canvas will donate another 5-pack to a local school in need. Customers can also choose to donate both packs.
Steele Canvas is also encouraging schools to reach out to them about donations and they hope to accommodate as many as they possibly can.
Kids Mask Packs are available on Steele Canvas' website.
