Masks For A Cause
Donation protected
We are a small family apparel business in California that manufactures apparel for our three brands: Walz Caps, Sew Sporty, and Stonewear Designs. Our office is in Vista, CA, so when California went under a shelter at home order, we closed our headquarters to help flatten the curve. Naturally, we still wanted to help where we could while keeping our employees working.
After much thought, we decided to help the tremendous mask shortage by reopening our sewing production and have our team cut and sew washable masks. We are DONATING face masks to healthcare professionals and facilities in need who are working with vulnerable populations and fighting for lives during this crisis.
We started sewing masks for our Masks For A Cause project on March 30, 2020 and we have heard from healthcare employees and facilities, hospital foundations, emergency responders, and customers across the country, who are requesting masks for their daughters, sons, family members, and friends who are working in hospitals and medical facilities that are running out of supplies. Your donations will allow us to sustain this project through purchasing materials, paying our employees, increasing production hours, and covering shipping costs for washable masks that we will donate to healthcare workers.
We are in tough times right now. Our hearts go out to those who are suffering, either physically or mentally, and our extreme gratitude goes to those battling on the front lines and working with vulnerable populations. Although fear comes in waves for all of us, we have growing hope and faith as we see people working for the greater good, because it reminds us that we are all in this together.
OUR GOAL AND COMMITMENT
We are determined to help get masks to those who need them so they can focus on helping others and saving lives. Our goal is to cut, sew, and donate washable masks to healthcare professionals, facilities, and those that are working with vulnerable populations that need them during this critical time. We are currently using our small staff and the fabric we have in inventory to build masks but with the overwhelming need, it will not last long. We would love to sustain this effort for as long as needed, and your donations will allow us to continue to donate our masks, increase our employees’ hours, purchase more materials, and ship at no cost to the recipients.
MASK REQUESTS
These are just a few of the emails we received from customers and people around the country who are trying to find masks for those in need. We get more and more every day.
“My son is an emergency medicine resident in New York. They don't have enough masks. They double mask - wearing mask upon mask for extra protection and they re-use the masks.”
“My friend's son is a resident at a hospital in Brooklyn. As of last night at 10 pm, they had 84 Covid 19 patients, with 28 in the ICU and 27 more pending Covid 19 test results. They are overwhelmed and are running out of simply EVERYTHING. “
“I work for a Department of Fire-Rescue Division of Emergency Management and our agency is in desperate need of masks. As many first responders in the nation, we are also low on PPE and despite means, cannot find a vendor that can fill our needs. Without the appropriate PPE, the men and women in our department cannot do their jobs.”
“I work for an Ambulatory Surgical Center and our team of 15 are using now just the paper masks and would love to have these. We have approximately 200 paper masks left until we run out.”
FAQs
How will the funds be used?
Your donations will allow us to increase hours for our employees, purchase more materials, and manufacture face masks that we are donating to healthcare workers and those helping others and fighting for lives. We are currently using our fabric that we have in inventory but will run out quickly and will need to purchase more material as well as cover labor and shipping costs. The more funding we secure means the more masks we can produce to help those on the front lines. We started sewing masks on March 30, 2020 and will start shipping our first batch of donated face masks to healthcare workers at the end of this week.
Are donations tax deductible?
Donations are not tax-deductible, but they are supporting a small family business as we switch our focus to producing masks that we can donate to healthcare workers, facilities, and those working with vulnerable populations and keep our employees working.
Aside from donations, how can we help?
If you are a healthcare professional or know of one in need, you can e-mail us with a subject headline “Healthcare Professional: “Washable Mask Request” at [email redacted]. We are creating a priority list and are shipping them out as quickly as we can make them.
Your donations at work:
We are a husband and wife team and we will do our best to post updates on here as well as our social media accounts.
Walz Caps: @WalzCaps (Instagram , Twitter , Facebook )
Sew Sporty: @SewSporty (Instagram , Twitter , Facebook )
Stonewear Designs: @StonewearDesigns (Instagram , Facebook )
Who We Are:
Michael and Jennifer Gilstrap, Owners: Walz Caps, Sew Sporty & Stonewear Designs
Vista, CA. These funds will be used for labor of masks and any supplies we are not able to have donated.
After much thought, we decided to help the tremendous mask shortage by reopening our sewing production and have our team cut and sew washable masks. We are DONATING face masks to healthcare professionals and facilities in need who are working with vulnerable populations and fighting for lives during this crisis.
We started sewing masks for our Masks For A Cause project on March 30, 2020 and we have heard from healthcare employees and facilities, hospital foundations, emergency responders, and customers across the country, who are requesting masks for their daughters, sons, family members, and friends who are working in hospitals and medical facilities that are running out of supplies. Your donations will allow us to sustain this project through purchasing materials, paying our employees, increasing production hours, and covering shipping costs for washable masks that we will donate to healthcare workers.
We are in tough times right now. Our hearts go out to those who are suffering, either physically or mentally, and our extreme gratitude goes to those battling on the front lines and working with vulnerable populations. Although fear comes in waves for all of us, we have growing hope and faith as we see people working for the greater good, because it reminds us that we are all in this together.
OUR GOAL AND COMMITMENT
We are determined to help get masks to those who need them so they can focus on helping others and saving lives. Our goal is to cut, sew, and donate washable masks to healthcare professionals, facilities, and those that are working with vulnerable populations that need them during this critical time. We are currently using our small staff and the fabric we have in inventory to build masks but with the overwhelming need, it will not last long. We would love to sustain this effort for as long as needed, and your donations will allow us to continue to donate our masks, increase our employees’ hours, purchase more materials, and ship at no cost to the recipients.
MASK REQUESTS
These are just a few of the emails we received from customers and people around the country who are trying to find masks for those in need. We get more and more every day.
“My son is an emergency medicine resident in New York. They don't have enough masks. They double mask - wearing mask upon mask for extra protection and they re-use the masks.”
“My friend's son is a resident at a hospital in Brooklyn. As of last night at 10 pm, they had 84 Covid 19 patients, with 28 in the ICU and 27 more pending Covid 19 test results. They are overwhelmed and are running out of simply EVERYTHING. “
“I work for a Department of Fire-Rescue Division of Emergency Management and our agency is in desperate need of masks. As many first responders in the nation, we are also low on PPE and despite means, cannot find a vendor that can fill our needs. Without the appropriate PPE, the men and women in our department cannot do their jobs.”
“I work for an Ambulatory Surgical Center and our team of 15 are using now just the paper masks and would love to have these. We have approximately 200 paper masks left until we run out.”
FAQs
How will the funds be used?
Your donations will allow us to increase hours for our employees, purchase more materials, and manufacture face masks that we are donating to healthcare workers and those helping others and fighting for lives. We are currently using our fabric that we have in inventory but will run out quickly and will need to purchase more material as well as cover labor and shipping costs. The more funding we secure means the more masks we can produce to help those on the front lines. We started sewing masks on March 30, 2020 and will start shipping our first batch of donated face masks to healthcare workers at the end of this week.
Are donations tax deductible?
Donations are not tax-deductible, but they are supporting a small family business as we switch our focus to producing masks that we can donate to healthcare workers, facilities, and those working with vulnerable populations and keep our employees working.
Aside from donations, how can we help?
If you are a healthcare professional or know of one in need, you can e-mail us with a subject headline “Healthcare Professional: “Washable Mask Request” at [email redacted]. We are creating a priority list and are shipping them out as quickly as we can make them.
Your donations at work:
We are a husband and wife team and we will do our best to post updates on here as well as our social media accounts.
Walz Caps: @WalzCaps (Instagram , Twitter , Facebook )
Sew Sporty: @SewSporty (Instagram , Twitter , Facebook )
Stonewear Designs: @StonewearDesigns (Instagram , Facebook )
Who We Are:
Michael and Jennifer Gilstrap, Owners: Walz Caps, Sew Sporty & Stonewear Designs
Vista, CA. These funds will be used for labor of masks and any supplies we are not able to have donated.
Organizer
Michael and Jennifer Gilstrap
Organizer
Vista, CA
