6 Weeks, 10,000 Masks: Volunteers Thanked At Nyack Hospital

NYACK, NY — Nyack Mask Makers celebrated an astonishing landmark Monday. Co-founders Bill Batson and Donna Timm visited Montefiore Nyack Hospital yet again, and ceremoniously gave the village mayor and the hospital's president the 9,999th and 10,000th masks their all-volunteer group has made.

It has only been six weeks.

Batson and Timm, long-time cultural and civic activists, created Nyack Mask Makers to design and fabricate cloth face coverings for front-line health care workers and others in need. After consultation with Dr. Mark Geller and his staff, a prototype was developed and production began March 20, driven by a group of more than 350 volunteers recruited by Batson and Timm.

Providing financial support, more than 200 people have donated a total of more than $12,000 to the group’s GoFundMe campaign.

After delivering the first 2,000 masks to Monterfiore Nyack, the group expanded their efforts to supply masks to over 40 local organizations, including nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, fire, ambulance and police departments, child care institutions, schools, food banks, and other vital community service organizations. (See a partial list of recipients below.)

On April 4, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that everyone wear a cloth face covering when out of the home, the group pivoted. SEE: Volunteer Mask Makers Seek To Protect Whole Village.

Timm and Batson reached out to Village of Nyack Mayor Don Hammond with an offer to provide a free mask to any and all in Nyack who needed one. The group has since produced more than 1,000 masks for residents and had them delivered by volunteer drivers.

Since social distancing precluded an event where Dr. Geller and Mayor Hammond could personally thank the more than 500 volunteers and donors that Batson and Timm have recruited, they took the opportunity Monday to show appreciation and encourage the public to continue efforts to flatten the curve.

Batson and Timm both have a personal connection with the hospital. Batson has a close relative who works at the Hospital. Timm is a cancer survivor who received treatment at the hospital’s Hematology Oncology Center.

“Montefiore Nyack Hospital is a cornerstone of our community -– touching so many individuals and families, but also serving the community more broadly as leaders. They help our ‘small’ village do big things,” said Timm.

Batson has documented the village-wide flatten-the-curve effort in his Nyack Sketch Log columns.

"We have two custom masks, made by our master mask maker, Donna Timm, for two leaders who have propelled and guided the work of the many heroes in response the pandemic,“ said Batson. “We say thank you to Dr. Geller and Mayor Hammond, as they continue to protect our community. To show our appreciation to our leaders and the many workers at the hospital and in the village, we ask that everyone wear a mask. All heroes wear masks."

Nyack Mask Makers have delivered 10,000 masks (and counting) to many organizations in the local community, including:

• Blaisdell Addiction Center
• Brightview Living
• Cardinal McCloskey Community Services
• Center for Safety & Change
• Child Care Resources of Rockland
• Crystal Run Healthcare
• Dowling Gardens Independent Living
• Flushing Hospital
• Friedwald Center
• Good Samaritan Addiction Center
• Grace’s Kitchen
• Harvest Home Senior Housing
• Jackson Fire Engine Co. Nyack
• Lake View Senior Housing
• Martin Luther King Center Multipurpose
• Montefiore Nyack Hospital
• North Riverview Healthcare Center
• Northern Manor Multicare Center
• Nyack Center
• Nyack Ridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center
• Nyack Community Ambulance Corp.
• Orangetown Police Department
• Pine Valley Center-Rehab
• Promenade at Blue Hill
• Rockland Diagnostics Rt 303
• Rockland County Sheriff’s Department
• Rockland Children's Psychiatric Hospital
• Rockland Psychiatric Hospital
• South Orangetown Schools meal delivery
• Soup Angels
• Tappen Zee Manor
• Tolstoy Village
• United Hospice
• Upper Room House of Worship Food Bank
• Willows at Ramapo Senior Living

“We have never faced a battle like this one,” said Geller. “But our people and our community will win in the end.”