Agawam Rotary Receives 5,000 Medical Masks

On September 29th , a cargo ship arrived in Boston with 800,000 masks on board to be distributed to communities across New England. The mask cargo was part of a project launched by Rotary District 7980 which includes southern Connecticut, Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut. With an additional 200,000 mask donation from East Hampton, CT Rotarian Ted Rossi and the Rossi Family Foundation the project was named the “Rotary Million Mask Challenge Tour.”

Shown above, Agawam Mayor and Club Member Bill Sapelli, DG Marc Glass and President John Barber joined the Rotary Million Mask Challenge* Tour that will reach all six New England states between October 5th and 7th.

Rotary Club distributions included Agawam 5,000; Amherst 1,000 ; Chicopee 1,000; East Longmeadow, 3,000; Enfield, CT ,1,000; Franklin County, 2,500; Great Barrington, 1,000; Holyoke, 1,000; Ludlow, 1,000; Somers, CT 3,000; Southwick, 1,000; Springfield, 20,000; Suffield, CT, 500; West Springfield, 5,000; and Wilbraham-Hampden, 2,500.

A 26' truck filled with 800,000 masks will make stops in Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before reaching Southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There are two stops in our district to accommodate the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

An additional 200,000 masks were distributed across Connecticut in the spring, making the total one million. All were donated by Ted Rossi, an East Hampton, CT, philanthropist and Rotarian, and the Rossi Family Foundation. Non-profit and government agencies that will receive masks from Rotary clubs in the district include fire and rescue, nursing homes and other health care services, food pantries, social services and schools.