Jessica Marlar, Senior Philanthropy Officer with Covenant Health Foundation, said that as the only Children’s Hospital in the region, Covenant felt that it was important for their team to ensure children’s health while in school.

“By donating the gaiter masks, we thought it would be much easier for children to keep up with them,” Marlar said. “They can easily be washed and have the filters changed out, and they give each child the same opportunity to have a trendy mask.”

Marlar said that the team at Covenant did a lot of pre-communication with school districts about amounts of masks and how distribution would work, and like many things the shipments were delayed.

“Once our team started receiving shipments, we did our best to sort, count and deliver the masks as quickly as possible,” Marlar said. “It took the work of a team of dedicated employees and countless hours, but it was rewarding to see the many photos and words of thanks from across the region.”

Amy Thompson, Covenant Children’s CEO, said that masking is about loving your neighbor. She said that she follows a short acronym, and that by donating these masks, Covenant hopes that students across the region will as well.

“We thought a short acronym that reminds people of the kite Covenant Children’s uses in our logo would be a good way to outline a few key healthy practices,” Thompson said.  “K- keep your mask on, I- increase the distance between you and your neighbor, T- take time to wash your hands, and E-evaluate your symptoms daily.”

Thompson said she believes that masking is the way to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the donation of masks to so many children helps Covenant ensure they are doing their part to assist in that.

“Know this is because we believe in masking,” Thompson said, “and we believe in doing what we can to curb this illness.”