Encore Week ProjectProtect Kits Now Available at Dixie Regional 400 East Campus

Southern Utahns are needed now to help complete an “Encore” effort by next week picking up, sewing and returning medical grade masks for ProjectProtect. ProjectProtect is a worldwide effort to ensure that frontline caregivers who are treating patients with COVID-19 have the protection they need to be as safe as possible.

ProjectProtect is a collaborative effort between Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health, Latter-day Saint Charities, and several Utah nonprofits to enlist thousands of sewing volunteers across the state. The goal of this initiative is to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline caregivers. More than five million medical-grade masks have been sewn to date. This Encore Week will complete an additional million to help .

“We are excited to receive kits locally so the many wonderful volunteers we have here can help Utah achieve this critical goal,” said Cathy Hohn, volunteer services manager at Intermountain Dixie Regional Medical Center. “We can use every willing person to help sew, so please register through the Just Serve website and pick up a kit for your neighborhood or group of friends to help sew.”

Volunteers need to have a sewing machine, thread, scissors, and pins. Polypropylene fabric and instructions are provided. They will be asked to:

• Follow detailed instructions and use a sewing machine.
• Make 100 masks. Depending on the level of experience, each mask will take five to 10 minutes to sew.
• Spend 10 to 15 hours sewing, plus the time it takes to pick up the materials and drop of the finished masks.