The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Lauren Rosh

MASKS & MORE: A Heartening County & Community Response is Helping Provide Personal Protective Equipment

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The Demand for Personal Protective Equipment is High and People from Every Corner in the County are Helping Out.

FIRST in a Three-Part Series about efforts underway to protect those on the frontlines.

Right now, people are searching for ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In Westchester, and across the world, people are coming together to make masks and other PPE for their neighbors, those who are immunocompromised and frontline heroes. Despite being separate groups, there is no sense of competition among them. They are their own unified community; all just people who want to help those around them. Here’s a look at one such initiative that started in Westchester County that you can be a part of.

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Masks & More: A Group Effort

Aparna Paladugu and Morris Mayer organized a Westchester-wide mask making effort called Masks & More. Armonk resident Laurie Anderson joined their team as a Northern Westchester coordinator. “It is unbelievable to me that our healthcare workers had to throw a plea online to get what they need. We just want to help,” said Anderson.

Mayer owns Park Plaza Interiors and when he closed his shop in Mamaroneck due to the pandemic, he devoted the space to making masks and transformed his home into a distribution center. His shop sews about 1,000 masks a week for health care workers on the frontlines and others in need.

Paladugu is a retired psychiatrist who now coordinates, organizes and communicates with everyone involved with Masks & More. Mayer’s neighbor who wanted to start making masks contacted Paladugu. After talking to Mayer, the two decided to combine their efforts. All masks that Masks & More makes go to Mayer’s home for distribution.

“We make sure we have a contact at the hospital or health care facility. It is key so the masks make it to where they need to go,” said Anderson.

Medical residents Drs David Iffy and Ashish Goel at Brookdale University Hospital, Brooklyn, wearing efforts of Mask & More volunteers. Cotton Masks go over and help protect scarce N-95 masks.
Caroline Loeb of Mount Kisco in her home sewing masks for frontline warriors.

They have distributed more than 6,000 masks in Westchester, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Tennessee. As of April 18, via a nationwide network of upholstery shops that Mayer is a part of, 70,592 masks were made and distributed across the United States.

“We would not be so successful today in making masks and distributing without the enthusiasm of so many volunteers who selflessly started sewing using their own funds to buy material and make masks,” said Paladugu.

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The group makes two different types of masks: one with a pocket for frontline workers and one without for seniors or health care workers not on the frontlines. Anderson’s main responsibility is a runner. She makes sure everyone has what they need and delivers the masks.

Nextdoor is an online platform where people can link up with others in their area to get information about goods and services. Anderson got involved with Paladugu and Mayer’s efforts after seeing a doctor post on Nextdoor asking for masks.

Since transforming his store into a distribution center, Mayer has been paying his employees and paying for materials out of pocket and funds are running low. For more information and to donate, please visit: https://www.smilesforsaige.com/plaza-park-interiors

If you would like to get involved, please visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1F_04aoZ7Af09yAJ9rAAS0I57Fqg3BIUlOTMU78s6NI8/viewform?edit_requested=true

Plus, here, a video on how to make masks for health care workers. Volunteers Katie and Eric Rauch created this for Masks & More.

Capturing, Yes, SMILES Galore in a Pandemic, Thanks to #TheFrontPorchProject

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Photographers Donna Mueller and Randi Childs and a growing group of photographers are bringing smiles to families’ faces through the #TheFrontPorchProject.

“The purpose of this project is to bring us together during this difficult time, put a smile on people’s faces by capturing a moment they can always look back on and also know that by taking part they also helped another family,” explained Mueller.

Lynda Lederer-Natale and her family used their portrait as an opportunity to show off their Pleasantville Pride. Each of them wore a Pleasantville shirt and even their dog was sporting a green, Pleasantville bandana. The Lederer-Natale family felt this was an opportunity to give back to their community by donating to Pleasantville Strong, a coalition that offers peer counseling and aims to reduce underage drinking, drug use and other unhealthy behaviors.

“I am not saying that because of this situation kids are going to become addicted, however, they will need this when they get back, they will need these resources next year,” said Lederer-Natale.

Photographer Donna Mueller
The Natale family. PHOTO by Donna Mueller
The Wolf family with Donna Mueller photographing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning About #TheFrontPorchProject

We are currently facing unprecedented circumstances and self-quarantining in our homes and social distancing has become a new way of living. However, it is during these times that photographers participating with #TheFrontPorchProject are saying it’s important to remember to smile, too. And hundreds of residents and business owners are embracing that message, and participating. The pictures can also serve as a historical and life affirming record of families and businesses persevering during a pandemic.

The initiative, started by photographer Cara Soulia of Needham, Massachusetts, has inspired photographers worldwide to participate. Soulia launched the initiative as a way to lift people’s spirits during this difficult time. After reading an article about this, Mueller and Childs both had the idea of bringing it here as a way to give back to the community at large.

Inspiring Community Unity

Photographer Randi Childs

Childs explained that the way our community unifies in times of crisis is inspiring. “It is absolutely amazing that we can come together in such a beautiful way in a time of need.”

Childs put a post on Facebook about the project and asked if there were any other photographers who would like to help out. That is how she formed her team with Carolyn Simpson and Debra Baron. These women help Childs organize her time slots and take photographs. As a part of this project, photographers go to people’s homes and photograph them on their porch, stoop or front steps.

The Sadiks. PHOTO by Randi Childs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some families include a picture of a rainbow indicating this storm will pass and others hold up posters they made saying ‘Be Safe’ or ‘Miss You.’ One family that participated held up signs they made thanking essential workers.

The Novick Family PHOTO by Randi Childs

For Holly Boes, a family portrait was something to look forward to. “It made for a bright and shiny spot during a dark time and now we have been able to pay it forward,” said Boes.

In exchange for the photographs, families are making donations to local businesses of their choice through the purchase of a gift certificate and passing it along to someone they know who is out of work during this pandemic, donating directly to the business or to a particular cause.

The photographers’ goal with the donation aspect of the project is to personalize it and allow people to donate to local businesses and causes they believe in.

High school principals, nurses and teachers have all taken part in this project and now Mueller is getting small businesses in the mix. On Monday April 6, she is visiting local businesses and members of the Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce, and photographing them in front of their storefronts.

The demand for #TheFrontPorchProject is continuing to grow. Since March 24, Mueller has captured 80 families and has a list of another 70 families she will visit within the next seven to 10 days. Childs had 18 shoots scheduled in one day and welcomed Baron and Simpson to help her manage the requests.

This project has a great impact on families, both who participate and those who just view the gallery. #TheFrontPorchProject has accomplished the photographers’ mission of bringing positivity into people’s days during challenging times.

Lederer-Natale said, “life is short and you have to capture it moment by moment. Although this may not be a moment that you want to remember going on, in the future we can look back on this family photo and say, ‘it’s okay, it will get better.’”

 

To view #FrontPorchProject pics by Randi Childs:

https://www.facebook.com/randichildsphotography/

To view #FrontPorchProject pics by Donna Mueller:

https://www.facebook.com/DonnaMuellerPhotography/