Above, Kathy Fielding, the North Suburban YMCA (NSYMCA) CEO, Tara Wesselink, the NSYMCA’s social responsibility and sustainability coordinator, and Tabitha Nelson, the In-Kind Program donations supervisor for the WINGS Program display the face masks donated to WINGS for its 700 clients.
Through a grant provided by the YUSA, the NSYMCA received a number of face masks to meet CDC and IDPH guidelines. With an abundance of inventory, the Y donated 3,250 masks to schools and facilities lacking PPE. This included 1,500 to Wheeling School District 21, 1,000 to Curt’s Café, an agency focused on improving the lives of young adults living in at-risk situations, and 750 to the WINGS Program, a local agency supporting victims of domestic violence and displaced families.
“We are so blessed to have the NSYMCA support our organization,” said Tabitha Nelson, In-Kind Program donations supervisor for WINGS said in a statement. “Our families are very vulnerable when they come to us and these masks will go to over 700 clients which will be distributed to our safe homes and our shared homes in the area. Donations like this will help make them feel a little safer in this world.”
As schools begin to reopen for in-person learning amid the pandemic, mask policies for all students place a great need for PPE in the Northbrook community. Additionally, the donated cloth masks help ensure families have a reusable resource available to prepare students for returning to school.
“We were so appreciative when the NSYMCA called us to donate masks to our school district,” said Kara Beach, a communications specialist from the Wheeling School District 21 in a statement. “We just began bringing students back to in-person learning, so the timing was perfect.”
The NSYMCA’s 2020 social responsibility accomplishments have been one of the most significant years to date, including the face masks donated. And despite how difficult the pandemic has been on everyone, Tara Wesselink, the NSYMCA’s social responsibility and sustainability coordinator who spearheaded the mask donations, said the YUSA’s generosity to keep friends and neighbors safe has never wavered.
“We will continue to meet and rise above the current challenges by looking after each other and remaining diligent to our dedication to social responsibility,” said Wesselink.
Learn more about the North Suburban YMCA.
