St. Anthony’s Dress-A-Girl Ministry "Switching Gears"

East Northport - Three weeks ago, the St. Anthony’s Dress-A-Girl ministry were sewing dresses and making dolls for girls in need around the world. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, they began to get many requests to start making face masks, so they enthusiastically changed gears!

In the last 2 weeks, they've produced about 400 cloth masks and are in the process of making and distributing another 600! The ministry is a group of volunteer “Seamstresses” and helpers from St. Anthony’s parish, Fr. Thomas A. Judge Columbiettes and others from the East Northport community. Recipients of the masks are from Good Samaritan, Stony Brook, Brookhaven, and St. Charles hospitals.

Unfortunately cloth masks do not comply with normally accepted regulations regarding infection control. Studies are contradictory regarding their effectiveness. However, the masks are being used in a variety of ways. They can be worn over the N95 masks, infected patients can wear them to stop spread and they can be used for peace of mind, if nothing else.

St. Anthony’s Dress-A-Girl ministry Co-coordinators Susan Perillo and Agatha Piropato wish to thank their group of “seamstresses” 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. The Dress-A-Girl ministry together with LIQFK has distributed about 3100 masks to date and they have plenty more in the pipeline!