MILWAUKEE — Mask up Milwaukee. It's a new effort to get millions of masks in the hands of those who need it most in Southeastern Wisconsin.
The loading dock at Fiserv Forum is now repurposed as a distribution center for volunteers looking to pick up kits to assemble masks.
3500 kits are available containing enough materials to make 2.5 million masks.
"It's a good use of this space while things are quiet," said LuVerda Martin, a volunteer.
Martin was one of dozens who made their way to the Fiserv Forum to pick up a kit.
"We have three kids so it's something for them to help us do around the house," Martin said.
Alex Lasry, Senior Vice President of the Milwaukee Bucks said it was a matter of team work between a number of partners including Rebel Converting, The Medical College of Wisconsin, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Zilber Family Foundation, United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha and Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity.
"It's kind of our way of trying to convene some of our local partners and do our small part in helping those on the front lines," Larsy said.
Rebel Converting, a Saukville-based manufacturer, originally donated one million masks and decided to ramp up production.
“Our initial donation was a million masks in early April. We saw this wasn’t going to come close to handling the need Southeastern Wisconsin had," said Mike Kryshak of Rebel.
#MaskUpMKE is a local initiative serving medical and nonprofit communities. Community organizations in need of masks can visit MaskUpMke.org.
