Teachers, students help first responders, healthcare workers through Miami Mask Project

Volunteer sewers in the Miami Mask Project are as young as 11 years old. Three are teachers. Most are high school students and their parents.

The mission: to make face masks to protect others during the coronavirus pandemic. So far, more than 1,500 masks have been sewn and donated.

“Our army of around 20 volunteers has already donated through the course of these last six days over a thousand of our homemade masks to South Miami Hospital, South Miami and University of Miami Police Departments, Urgent Care Centers, Miami Dade Animal Services, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Jackson NICU, and several doctors and pediatrician offices,” said Mariel Wenger, who with her son Ethan started the group of volunteers.

They are making the protective masks so very needed by doctors and others, she said.

Included in the “army” are chemistry teacher Monica Avalos and biology teacher Emilia Odife both at Gulliver Schools, and Spanish teacher Helena Castillo-Arguelles at Palmetto Middle School.

The newest volunteer sewer is Emma Filippi, 11, who is in fifth grade at Carrollton School.

Ethan Wenger, 17, a junior at Palmetto Senior High, is in charge of coordinating supplies. Other volunteers helping him are Sarah Kotler and Pam Ascobereta.

“Since we share all the materials, he picks up donations and machines that our friends lend us and distributes among all the volunteers,” Mariel Wenger said.

“He recently picked up a machine that someone let us borrow and delivered it to one of the volunteers. He also picks up N95 masks from Third Wave Volunteers and delivers them to doctors’ offices around our area.”

Third Wave Volunteers is a global group with a mission “to volunteer even for just an hour.” Learn about it at www.thirdwavevolunteers.com

Ethan, his mom said, is also in charge of distribution “which is a very time-consuming task, several hours every day, and helps with packing, sorting and organizing.”

Pam and Sarah are very proficient sewers, she said.

After donating so many masks, the group has now shifted to helping raise funds by selling them.

“After we donated 1,500 masks to almost all of Miami hospitals, police departments, post office workers, assisted living facilities, mental health agencies, dialysis centers and many other organizations, we decided to switch to selling masks and donating 100 percent of the proceeds,” Mariel Wenger said.

“We raised $2,500 in one week, which we donated to the University of Miami Student Impact Fund, Third Wave Volunteers, and to the Go Fund Me campaign of a young Miami nurse who died of COVID leaving a 4-year-old behind.

“We have an Instagram account where we share our updates and post pictures of people wearing our masks not only in Miami, but in New York, California, Boston and Philadelphia. The IG account is MiamiMaskProject,” she said.

You can visit the site and learn more at https://sites.google.com/view/miamimaskproject/ To reach the group directly write to mwenger@gmail.com

Writing contest winners

Just before social distancing took effect, the winners of the 32nd annual Junior Orange Bowl Creative Writing Contest were announced and celebrated at Books & Books in Coral Gables on March 8.

This year, the South Florida Writers Association, co-sponsor of the essay contest for eighth-graders in Miami-Dade County, had the theme of “Vaping is found to be harmful. How can I help a friend who is addicted to vaping?”

The Creative Writing Committee received a large number of submissions this year — 178 — and many told of their friends’ experiences vaping.

Anthony Broad is chair and Connie Goodman-Milone is vice chair of the creative writing contest.

“Our essay contest opened a window on how pervasive vaping is among middle schoolers,” Goodman-Milone said.

Ten finalists were honored at the awards event. The first-, second- and third-place winners were announced at the ceremony where 18-year-old Chance Ammirata, founder of Lung Love Foundation, was the special guest speaker. He told the gathering about how he almost died when his lung collapsed.

“He moved everyone with a passionate sharing about his near-death experience with vaping,” Goodman-Milone said.

Melissa Gonzalez from W.R. Thomas Middle School is the first-place winner. Brianna Roque from W.R. Thomas Middle School won second place. Alex Schefter from Miami Arts Charter School won the prize for third place.

The winning teachers are Gabriela Del Rio from W.R. Thomas Middle School, Michelle Osorio from W.R. Thomas Middle School, and Victoria Castells from Miami Arts Charter School.

The winning students read their essays to a receptive audience at the awards ceremony. The Junior Orange Bowl Creative Writing Contest is free for all student entries. Winning students and teachers were awarded a total of $2,500 in cash and prizes.

“We thank Books & Books for their gifts and support for the past 12 years. The prize-winning essays will be published in the Author’s Voice newsletter of the South Florida Writers Association,” Goodman-Milone said.

Learn more about this writers’ group that anyone can join at www.southfloridawriters.org

Miami Eats launched

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, creators of the popular “Miami Spice Restaurant Months” program, has launched the “Miami Eats. Order Out, Help Out” program to support local restaurants suffering from the downturn in business created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program now has more than 1,000 participating restaurants.

Miami Eats has also partnered with “Meals for Heroes, Miami,” a nonprofit, donation-based organization, founded by philanthropist and Miami resident Will Osborne and his son, restaurateur Mac Osborne.

Organizers said GMCVB.com/MiamiEats “offers Miamians a convenient location to source Greater Miami and the Beaches’ vast dining options while at home and creates awareness of takeout and delivery offerings.”

And “Meals for Heroes, Miami” seeks to meet two objectives: to feed stressed and exhausted first responders risking their lives daily and provide revenue and protect jobs at Miami restaurants.

“Miami is a city built on the hospitality industry, which is being crushed by this pandemic,” Will Osborne said.

“This is a fight that is going to be won by our healthcare front-line workers, in conjunction with our first responders. These three constituencies — hospitality, healthcare and fire/EMS/police — need our support. Purchasing meals to deliver to these stressed professionals is a sign of support from a grateful community.”

If you have news for this column, write to ChristinaMMayo@gmail.com.