The Saint Louis Fashion Fund has competed its aggressive mask-making project to produce 14,000 masks to help protect against the spread of COVID-19. The masks were made for front-line workers across the St. Louis metropolitan area including hospitals, small patient care facilities, senior centers, veterans, caregivers, city and county police, grocery workers and wherever there was a need.

The mask initiative, led by Fashion Fund designer-in-residence Michael Drummond, recruited 12 out of work seamstresses to join this new fashion movement. Each stepped up their cut and sew operations at home to meet the challenge to produce 14,000 masks in 45 days. And, they delivered three days earlier than expected.

Today, the final 2,000 masks, produced by Drummond and his sew team, were delivered to Food Outreach, located at 3117 Olive in St. Louis City. The masks were to be given out today on a first-come, first served basis to clients.

“As the COVID-19 outbreak began in the U.S., the CDC identified clients served by Food Outreach as some of our most vulnerable citizens because of their diagnoses of HIV or cancer and economic disparity. The masks provided by the Saint Louis Fashion Fund, sewn with care in St. Louis, will help to protect our clients and serve as a reminder that our clients matter and are remembered,” said Julie Pole, Executive Director, of Food Outreach.

"Today’s final mask contribution to Food Outreach, marks the conclusion of this heart-warming effort that has benefited a wide range of those who work so hard each day to keep our hometown safe from this invisible monster. It truly has been incredibly humbling to see the support that this initiative has received from the get go from so many generous St. Louisans. None of this would have been possible without our inspirational craftspeople, the valuable medical insight and guidance of Dr. Kumiko Shimoda of St. Luke’s Hospital in creating the mask prototype, the resources provided by Saint Louis Fashion Fund and Carr Textiles, and the generous contribution of $70,000 by Michelle Trulaske and her family," said Drummond. 

Fashion Fund will continue its work on a number of initiatives to connect local fashion and design businesses to boost awareness and sales of their brands that contribute to the overall fashion industry's revenues of $3.3 billion annually to the St. Louis economy. Some of these initiatives are already underway and include the launch of the #314 Fashion campaign to support local designers, especially those whose work directly impacts the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

The Fund welcomes additional community support to help Saint Louis Fashion Fund continue its work with local creatives. Contributions can be sent to: Saint Louis Fashion Fund, 1533 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, call 314-400-9300 or go to www.saintlouisfashionfund.org