East Haven Rotary Club Donates Masks, Care Packages

EAST HAVEN, CT — 'Service Above Self' is one of Rotary's official mottos, and members of the East Haven Rotary Club are putting work behind the words amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

In recent weeks, the charitable organization has donated 486 surgical masks to Woodview Elderly Housing and East Farm Village Apartments in East Haven.

East Haven Rotary Club President Joan Adamczyk told Patch the masks were divided up, and about 150 were given to Woodview, which mostly houses elderly residents. The remaining masks were given to East Farm Village Apartments, which houses both elderly residents and those with a need for affordable housing.

"It was urgent for me to make sure they had something available," Adamczyk said. "Those facilities have the elder generation. I feel bad for the elderly; they're at the highest risk... We're all going to be at that age at some point."

The organization's president said the masks were donated to the East Haven Rotary Club by the Rotary of East Hampton Club before they were passed on to the living facilities.

Adamczyk said East Havem Rotary Club also made donations of personal care packages to health care workers at Whispering Pines Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and Apple Rehab Laurel Woods, both in East Haven.

She said the donations were made possible by a Rotary district grant of $2,500, some $1,300 of which went to buying hand sanitizer alone.

The packages were delivered Wednesday and contained bottled water, Gatorade, hand lotion, sanitizer, gloves, packages of tissues, chocolate, peanuts, a granola bar, gum and travel soap.

Adamczyk said 100 packages were given to Whispering Pines and 187 were given to Apple Rehab.

The organization, she said, is "striving to do the best we can within our community and doing the best for residents. Service above self."