Like you, I’m ready to get back to school, back to the theater, and back to hugging my friends. I’m ready for COVID-19 to be behind us so we can go back to living life!
Hi, I’m Andréa and this is my mom, Kathy, and we’re the founders of The Mask Hub.
This initiative sprung from a personal need: my family was trying to buy cloth masks on Amazon, but they were either sold out, not protective enough, or too expensive. I realized that my family was one among the millions of others facing this widespread issue — we all needed masks to help control the spread of COVID, but we couldn’t easily acquire them.
And then I realized that my aunt in Vietnam could produce high-quality masks for a reasonable price in her clothing factory…. but only if we ordered in bulk (>100,000 at a time). Originally, my plan was to buy them, keep a few we needed, and sell the rest on Amazon, donating the proceeds to charities. But then, I thought, why stop there? Why not donate the masks directly to charities, to support the people who need them the most? This is where the Mask Hub story begins.
Today, our initiative is providing high-quality reusable protective cloth masks, produced in my aunt’s factory, to the public. We purchased 1 million masks, and will donate all of them to non-profit and philanthropic organizations to slow the spread of COVID-19. The proceeds from mask donations will be used to support recovery, education, and ultimately ease the human suffering due to the pandemic.
About Andréa: I’ll be a high school senior this fall. I have asthma, and so does my mom. When COVID-19 broke out, I was worried about my teachers, who are mostly in the most affected age group. I was worried about the idea that, as a student in their classes, I could be spreading the infection to them and other required workers. I decided to do something to help protect them.
About my mom, Kathy: Kathy and her family were Vietnamese immigrants who came to the US from Vietnam in 1975, with no English and no belongings. As a child, Kathy cleaned houses with her mother, and eventually saw her parents save enough money to start a hamburger business. Thanks to her parents’ hard work, Kathy went on to study Internal Medicine, and now works in health system transformation.
The first supporter of The Mask Hub is Northwood School, a boarding school in Lake Placid, New York, where my brother and I are students.
Northwood is supporting The Mask Hub through the Innovation Hub: Northwood’s novel innovation, design, and entrepreneurship program.
Quy-An Nguyenle is a member of the Northwood School Class of 2021. She is a member of the Sustainability Club at Northwood School, and is passionate about reversing climate change. She likes SCUBA diving, observing animals and nature, rock climbing, studying history, and looking for strange, “useless” knowledge that may or may not be applicable in daily life (like how Twisted Sister testified before congress in 1985).
Her goal is to bring about social change in the world, and promote equality among people of different socioeconomic status.
Chase Ormiston is from Lake Placid, New York and is a senior at Northwood School. She enjoys skiing and spending time both outside and inside the classroom. She is a co-head of the community service club and a member of the student leadership team. Her goal is to ensure that all students at Northwood feel welcome and enjoy their time at school. She was interested in the mask initiative because she saw it as an opportunity to assist her community while also learning about nonprofits and how they function during the pandemic.
Ellie Colby is a senior at Northwood School. She is passionate about horseback riding, travel, and experiencing new languages and cultures. At school she is proud of her role as co-head of CARE, the community service group on campus. As a native of Saranac Lake, she is excited to take part in The Mask Hub to ensure her hometown and surrounding communities are protected amidst the pandemic. Above all, her goal is to make a positive impact on the world.
Our web development partner, Cornershop Creative, is committed to helping nonprofits of all sizes. They built this site for us, and trained us to make our own changes going forward. Check them out at cornershopcreative.com.
Do you have questions? Just let us know! We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
“Infection trends shifted dramatically when mask-wearing rules were implemented on April 6 in northern Italy and April 17 in New York City – at the time among the hardest hit areas of the world by the health crisis – the study found.”
“According to the latest data, history and science tell the same story: wearing a mask – combined with social distancing – stops the spread of the virus.”