School Board member starts cloth mask drive
By MEGHAN BRADBURY
One school board member wants to ensure that every student has a cloth reusable mask once school starts, so she began the School Heroes Wear Masks drive, which kicked off Monday.
“Although the district will provide our students with a disposable mask on a daily basis if they come to school without one, I wanted to ensure that all of our students had a least one reusable mask of their own,” Board member Betsy Vaughn said. “I mentioned my ideas at a school board workshop and afterwards floated the idea to (Superintendent) Dr. (Greg) Adkins. He was enthusiastic and I joined forces with district staff to make it happen.”
There are currently 15 dropoff sites throughout the county, including the lobby of the Lee County Public Education Center. There will be masks bins in the front lobby, as well as all of the drop off sites.
The drop off sites include:
North Fort Myers
• Lee County Housing Authority, 14170 Warner Circle
Cape Coral
• Ace Hardware, 1004 Cape Coral Parkway
• The Opal, 4920 Viceroy Court
• Papa John’s, 814 East Cape Coral Parkway
• My Shower Door, 2708 Santa Barbara Blvd.
Estero
• Beef O’Brady’s, 20301 Grand Oak Shoppers Blvd. Suite 108
Fort Myers
• Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd.
• Penny Grimes & Team, 11900 Fairway Lakes Drive
• Barrington Terrace, 9731 Commerce Center Court
• City of Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency, 1400 Jackson St.
• First Christian Church, 2061 McGregor Blvd.
• Edison’s Lab Restaurant and Bar, 2431 Cleveland Ave.
• Lee County Black History Society, 1936 Henderson Ave.
• Calusa Harbor, 2525 First St.
• Next Level Church, 11081 Gateway Blvd. and 12400 Plantations Road
• My Shower Door, 14261 S. Tamiami Trail
“I am pleased that we have supporters across the county that are willing to support this effort by displaying collection bins,” Vaughn said. “I anticipate donations of masks from individuals at our collection sites, as well as additional generous donations from Lee County businesses and civic organizations.”
Vaughn said Monday, Aug. 17, marked the official start day for collection of child- and adult-size masks. The drive will continue through Aug. 28.
“We have an ambitious goal of 50,000,” masks she said.
By collecting masks, the district will save money on disposable masks if each child has his, or her own personal masks, she said.
The district is providing disposable masks to students, which is separate from this collection.
The cloth masks will be distributed to school sites throughout the district based on the need.
“I understand that some of our schools may have donations specific to their schools from their PTOs, or local civic organizations,” Vaughn said. “Not every school will have that kind of local support. This drive will be marked by an equitable distribution of masks. I want to be able to provide a mask for every single student who attends first quarter face-to-face school.”
There are also four different levels of support for businesses and community partners who wish to donate to the cause. Platinum level is a donation of 300 or more masks, 200 or more masks for the gold level, the silver level is for those that donate 100 or more masks and 50 or more masks for bronze level.
There is a donation form for business and community partners to fill out and submit to be recognized for their contribution.
More information, can be found at www.leeschools.net.