Video and interview done by April Alonso. Photos provided by PTK.

Update: After this article was published, the Town of Cicero announced they will distribute masks Saturday, May 16th, 2020. The distribution will take place at Unity Jr High, 2115 S. 54th, Ave from 9am-12pm.

By April Alonso

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Students and community groups throughout the Chicago-land area have been distributing homemade masks in an effort to address disparities in access to protective equipment amongst communities most impacted by COVID-19.

Some elected officials have also been distributing masks for residents. This Saturday, May 16th, for example, Berwyn elected officials will be distributing at least 4,000 masks from 10 to 1 pm at the Morton West Freshman Center.

“As you know right now one of the policies in place is that if you go into a store or area with a lot of people it is required to wear a mask,” said Berwyn Alderman Rafael Avila, one of the event organizers. “I want to make sure people in Berwyn are able to follow the procedure."

The idea of donating face masks to workers in grocery stores came to Carolina Saldana while she was watching the news. Saldana enlisted the help of fellow PTK members, a chapter of the National Community College Honor Society at Morton College, to distribute masks to the grocery stores they frequent in Cicero and Berwyn.

Donating the masks, for Saldana, was personal since she has family that work in grocery stores.

“The facemask in a sense for me [are] a symbol... that they [employees] feel that they're not exposing their lives as much or exposing their family as they go out and work,” explained Saldana.

“I feel like a lot of people overlook the essential workers that aren't medical. So I feel like she [Saldana] has a really great idea of giving it to the grocery stores and the workers in there. So it makes me feel better, knowing that we help people who may be feeling overlooked right now,” said Destiny Herrera, another PTK member. “The workers could be my peers’ parents and their families out there. So I feel happy that we were able to protect some of our students as well, my classmates.”

Billy, who declined to share his last name, is a manager at Familia Fresh Market in Berwyn. He said the donations from PTK, “helped out a lot, good to protect the employees.”

The students commended the Town of Cicero president for signing the executive order requiring facemasks before the Governor and shared other ideas about what the Town could do to ensure that workers are protected.

“I would suggest that maybe the Town can give businesses an advisory note or something where employers can tell their employees that, hey, if you're sick, stay home, don't worry, like you still have your job,” suggests Saldana.

“If the town of Cicero or Berwyn was able to provide more [financial] security so that they [employees] don't feel the fear of…who's going to be able to provide for their families if anything were to happen,” suggested Herrera about what else can be done to protect grocery store employees.

Everyone in Illinois who is older than two years old and who can medically tolerate wearing a mask or face covering, must wear one when out in stores or other public areas where social distancing can’t be maintained. Essential employers and manufacturers must provide their employees with face coverings, stagger work shifts and limit occupancy for the workplace.

Face masks or coverings can help decrease the spread of COVID-19. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has released general guidelines on how to make face coverings out of cloth since surgical masks or N95 masks should be reserved for health care workers and first responders.

According to the CDC, face coverings should: