A small business owner is spearheading a local effort to make masks in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Martha Valdes, the creative behind the brand Martha of Miami, has donated over 6,000 polyester face masks that are adjustable and washable. The masks say “tapate la boca” which means cover your mouth in Spanish.
"What started off as just being a small gift actually turned out to be a necessity. I've had a lot of people say, 'why would you buy these masks, they're not even medical-grade?'. That was before the CDC said to wear anything to cover your face, like a bandana or a cloth. I had a lot of nurses come to my defense through Instagram saying that this mask helps prolong the life of their masks that they have to reuse. Their medical-grade masks are in such short supply that something like this helps, it goes a long way,” said Valdes.
So far, Martha has donated boxes of masks to over 10 hospitals in Miami-Dade and Broward. For each $10 mask purchased, one will be donated to a local hospital. For more information, visit marthaofmiami.com
