East Northport Volunteer Seamstress Group Makes Cloth Masks

EAST NORTHPORT, NY — St. Anthony of Padua parish in East Northport is the home of a chapter of a Dress A Girl Around the World ministry group which sews dresses and makes dolls for girls in need around the globe. As the coronavirus pandemic grew, members of the ministry were asked to begin creating face masks.

Over the last two weeks, the ministry produced about 400 cloth masks and are finishing up another 600. The volunteer seamstresses are parishioners from St. Anthony's, members of the Fr. Thomas A. Judge Columbiettes, as well as from residents of the wider East Northport community. The group has distributed the masks to hospitals across Long Island including Good Samaritan, Stony Brook, Brookhaven Community, and St. Charles.

Although cloth masks are not the ideal, formally recommended type of masks, some recipients have been using them over N95 masks, or as a backup option when official protection is not available.

Dress A Girl co-coordinators Susan Perillo and Agatha Piropato want to thank the volunteers "who have stepped up to make the masks. The group ran out of elastic pretty quickly so they contacted Carrie Davis, coordinator of their sister group Long Island Quilts for Kids (LIQFK) in Patchogue, to provide them with additional supplies."