CCU donates T-shirts to Tidelands Health to be made into safety masks
Students, faculty, and staff across the University have found ways to contribute to their communities in various ways throughout the pandemic. On April 14, a group of staff members from several different departments worked together to gather and deliver boxes of T-shirts to Tidelands Health so a group of volunteers can make masks for health care providers. Tidelands Health is the official health care system of the Chanticleers.
The Office of Special Events, the Office of Student Life, New Student and Family Programs, the Department of Athletics, and the Office of University Marketing and Communication all donated T-shirts to the cause.
The T-shirts are being used to make hand-sewn masks that are used by Tidelands Health team members in non-direct patient care areas. Team members in direct patient care areas use professional-grade personal protective equipment, including N95 respirators, surgical gowns, masks, gloves, etc. "Coastal Carolina University and Tidelands Health have been teammates for years now, and this generous donation once again illustrates the power of our partnership," said Pam Maxwell, chief nursing officer at Tidelands Health. "We thank CCU for this tremendous show of support, which will help protect our team members as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic."
The Office of Student Life was able to send three full boxes of T-shirts along with the rest of the CCU T-shirt donations on April 14.
"We wanted to donate them because we realized early last week that more people are in need of health masks," said Brittany Donatelli, coordinator of student activities in the Office of Student Life. "During this time, people are trying to come together to help in any way they can. We usually hand out T-shirts at Orientations, Teal Tuesdays, or other events. With the overflow and the need, it made sense for our office to help and donate them for the frontline workers."
New Student and Family Programs was also able to donate three boxes full of shirts, said director Susannah Marshman.
"With the programs we host, we typically have shirts leftover, so I went on a hunt for 100 percent cotton shirts from Orientation and was able to pull three large boxes full," she said. "In times like this, I think it is so important for all of us to do what we can to support our local community. We all have to be in this fight together."
Several athletic teams donated about six boxes to the cause, including the women's golf, basketball, and tennis teams; the baseball and softball teams; and the track and field team.
Officers from the Department of Public Safety delivered the T-shirts to Tidelands Health on Tuesday afternoon. From there, they will enter what has become a community assembly line of sorts.
Cynthia Dominick, diagnostic operations manager at Tidelands Health, has been working with a group of volunteers led by Julie Huynh, owner of a nail salon in Surfside Beach, to get the masks sewn. Dominick delivers the shirts to Huynh and her niece, who then distribute them among the network of volunteers to be cut, sewn, and have elastic bands added. Then Huynh brings them back to Tidelands Health for distribution.
"Julie actually reached out to us about three and a half weeks ago," said Dominick. "As of this week, this group of volunteers has delivered 3,200 masks for our team! In addition to providing masks to our team members, we have also reached out to area nursing, assisted living, and home health agencies to provide them masks, as well."
In addition to the CCU donation, Tidelands Health has also received T-shirt donations from Horry County Schools, Ocean Lakes Family Campground, and Accent Sewing. Each mask has three layers of fabric and has space for a filter to be inserted, so it depends on the size of the shirt on how many masks can be made from it.
"This whole project is a wonderful showing of community support for our health care providers in the area, and it's unbelievable what our volunteers have been able to accomplish," said Dominick. "Other areas have had to hire companies to sew for them, and we haven't had to do that."
Those interested in supporting Tidelands Health can visit the health system's website here for more information.