Moms making masks for Freeport police

Moms Making Masks, a Long Island-based group of volunteers who craft face masks for first responders, presented hundreds of homemade masks to the Freeport Police Department on May 5. 

Jennifer Frank and Lauren Berger Franklin, the founders of Moms Making Masks, said the group got together over Facebook in order to do something for those on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.    

As the group handed over the masks to Freeport officers, Police Deputy Chief Mike Smith and Village Mayor Robert Kennedy expressed their gratitude to the volunteers for assisting local police. 

“Thank you for all your efforts and for these masks to help ensure that our officers stay safe,” Smith said. 

“Our officers will take advantage of these masks,” Kennedy added. “Our police officers have taken about 320 people to the hospital for Covid-19 related incidents. These masks are greatly appreciated and cherished.” 

Freeport Police typically assist paramedics who are tending to and transporting the sick. In order to protect themselves, officers wear masks, goggles, gloves and other protective clothing, and they keep track of their equipment from day to day in case they start running low on anything. 

Smith said that the department went from responding to 18-15 calls a day regarding Covid-19 cases during the start of the pandemic to now only getting 1-2 calls a day. He found the number reassuring and urged residents to continue to follow social distancing and self-quarantine policies to ensure everything could return to normal. 

Until then, he added, police and first responders will gladly accept all the help they can get from local volunteers. 

Moms Make Masks began more than 6 weeks ago when Frank, of East Rockaway, began making cotton masks with elastic ear straps out of her home.

After making several masks for first responders, Frank was running out of material and asked on Facebook if anyone could donate elastic.

Berger Franklin, of Lynbrook, who did not know Frank at the time, stepped up and helped bring in more people and more material to help the cause. The volunteers then came together on Facebook to coordinate their efforts. 

The group now has members in about 20 towns in Nassau and Suffolk County, from Lynbrook to Commack. They have a network of volunteers, who have their own specific jobs. Some wash the donations; others cut, some deliver masks or pickup materials and there are about 50 sewers. Overall, Berger Franklin said, they have about 150-200 active workers.

The group has donated more than 4,000 masks to police and fire departments, hospitals, nursing homes and supermarkets throughout Long Island. 

“We’re not a factory,” Frank said. “We’re just sewing from home to try and help whoever we can.”

“It's amazing how many people have stepped up to help and how many we’re helping in return,” Berger Franklin added. 

-Darwin Yanes contributed to this story