WASHINGTON — The Washington National Cathedral is donating 5,000 respirator masks to hospitals in Washington to help combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The masks were purchased more than a decade ago during a previous health scare and recently discovered in the cathedral's crypt level.
On Wednesday, 13 boxes containing 3,000 masks were delivered to Georgetown University Hospital, and nine boxes containing 2,000 masks were delivered to Children’s National. The Cathedral will retain a small number of masks to facilitate in pastoral care needs.
“In these difficult and trying times, the Cathedral community is doing everything we can to help protect the most vulnerable among us from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic,” said the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral. “We have made significant adjustments to our worship programs and made church services available for streaming online, and now we’re prepared to take this additional, proactive step to ensure thousands have access to protection that otherwise may never have been available to them.”
In addition to donating the masks, Washington National Cathedral will also partner with the American Red Cross to hold a blood drive on Friday, March 27, to benefit patients and practitioners at local collection sites.