Support the Front Line Sewing Angels
Donation protected
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit NJ in mid-March 2020, our front-line workers lacked the vital protective gear they needed to stay safe. In response to this critical need, the Front Line Sewing Angels began making hand-sewn masks and scrub caps to distribute to health care workers, first responders, not for profits, and vulnerable residents across the NYC area. The nationally recognized Front Line Sewing Angels have made more than 65,000 masks and 20,000 scrub caps that have been distributed to hospitals, medical facilities, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, shelters, community organizations, and nonprofit organizations across the country. The group has more than 550 volunteer members who sew, cut material, and donate supplies.
Background
Sparta, NJ resident JoAnn Gregoli always thought it was a happy coincidence she was connected to Rosie the Riveter through her son-in-law Billy Boska, who is the grandson of Mary Doyle Keefe, who modeled for Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1943 painting. Little did JoAnn know, she herself would become a modern-day Rosie.
JoAnn has two children working on the front lines: a son who is a police officer in North Carolina and a daughter who is a physician assistant in Long Island, NY. At the start of the outbreak, she learned that healthcare workers lacked basic personal protective equipment (PPE) and weren’t prepared for the oncoming COVID-19 pandemic. As an international event planner and owner of Elegant Occasions, JoAnn’s first instinct was to start immediately organizing and mobilizing others to help make masks and then transport them to the hospitals where they were most needed. Because PPE is in such short supply, the hand-sewn masks are being used by doctors and nurses treating non-COVID-19 patients and as covers for N95 masks to increase their longevity.
JoAnn shared a GoFundMe page on her local community Facebook group and the movement quickly took off. Her call to action inspired friends, including her former client, now partner Christine Preston of Madison, NJ.
Who We Are Supporting
Andover Subacute Center, Atlantic Mobile Health, Bayada Home Healthcare, Bayshore Medical Center (Hackensack), BRIDGES, Brightview Senior Living and Hospice, Campassus Hospice, Christ Hospital (Jersey City), Daughters of Israel, Garden Terrace Nursing Home, Hackensack Hospital, Harbor, Holy Name Medical Center (Teaneck), Juniper Village Assisted Living, Lehigh Valley Medical Center (PA), Lyons Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Morristown Medical Center, Mt. Sinai Hospital (NYC), Navajo Nation, New Jersey Black Women Physician Association, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newton Medical Center, New York University Hospital, Overlook Medical Center, Pillar Continuum, Pine Acres Nursing Home, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, St. Barnabas Hospital, St. Clare’s Hospital, Summit Medical Group, Summit Medical Group Cancer Center, Sunrise Assisted Living, Trinitas Medical Center, USS Nimitz, Zufall Health.
#savealifemakeamask
#SewingAngels
Background
Sparta, NJ resident JoAnn Gregoli always thought it was a happy coincidence she was connected to Rosie the Riveter through her son-in-law Billy Boska, who is the grandson of Mary Doyle Keefe, who modeled for Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1943 painting. Little did JoAnn know, she herself would become a modern-day Rosie.
JoAnn has two children working on the front lines: a son who is a police officer in North Carolina and a daughter who is a physician assistant in Long Island, NY. At the start of the outbreak, she learned that healthcare workers lacked basic personal protective equipment (PPE) and weren’t prepared for the oncoming COVID-19 pandemic. As an international event planner and owner of Elegant Occasions, JoAnn’s first instinct was to start immediately organizing and mobilizing others to help make masks and then transport them to the hospitals where they were most needed. Because PPE is in such short supply, the hand-sewn masks are being used by doctors and nurses treating non-COVID-19 patients and as covers for N95 masks to increase their longevity.
JoAnn shared a GoFundMe page on her local community Facebook group and the movement quickly took off. Her call to action inspired friends, including her former client, now partner Christine Preston of Madison, NJ.
Who We Are Supporting
Andover Subacute Center, Atlantic Mobile Health, Bayada Home Healthcare, Bayshore Medical Center (Hackensack), BRIDGES, Brightview Senior Living and Hospice, Campassus Hospice, Christ Hospital (Jersey City), Daughters of Israel, Garden Terrace Nursing Home, Hackensack Hospital, Harbor, Holy Name Medical Center (Teaneck), Juniper Village Assisted Living, Lehigh Valley Medical Center (PA), Lyons Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Morristown Medical Center, Mt. Sinai Hospital (NYC), Navajo Nation, New Jersey Black Women Physician Association, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newton Medical Center, New York University Hospital, Overlook Medical Center, Pillar Continuum, Pine Acres Nursing Home, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, St. Barnabas Hospital, St. Clare’s Hospital, Summit Medical Group, Summit Medical Group Cancer Center, Sunrise Assisted Living, Trinitas Medical Center, USS Nimitz, Zufall Health.
#savealifemakeamask
#SewingAngels
Organizer
JoAnn Ferraro Gregoli
Organizer
Ross Corner, NJ
