With hundreds of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa employees working on campus to keep operations online, a call for masks was sent out. And UH Mānoa community members responded in a big way.
The College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTHAR) and the Department of Theatre and Dance provided Buildings and Grounds Management teams and facilities employees with about 500 masks.
“Our employees appreciate the aloha these volunteers provided with their own hands and hearts,” said Blake Araki, director of Office of Campus Operations and Facilities. “Our employees have never left. They’ve been here the whole time to make sure our campus is safe and that essential operations can continue.”
The department was able to purchase several hundred more masks, allowing front line employees to have a mask for almost each day of the week.
To help the cause, CTHAR alumna Sylvia Kop and husband Mark, owners of Hula Supply Center, donated more than 500 yards of fabric for the masks.
- Related UH News story: Volunteers needed to sew masks for UH Mānoa facilities crew, April 7, 2020
