Mask the City Initiative
Last week, the City of Winston Salem launched an initiative called Mask the City. The goal was for the population of Winston-Salem to all wear masks while out in public for the foreseeable future.
The city subsidized an allotment of masks from the Renfro Company, which is a sock manufacturer based in Mt. Airy with a Winston-Salem presence. This allotment is to be distributed to many charitable organizations within the city to be given to those who use these organizations and are considered low income. Several Winston-Salem businesses also bought an allotment of these masks to distribute to their employees.
On Friday, March 23rd, a limited amount of masks were sold at all Lowes Food locations in the county. Each Lowes Food store received around 10 boxes of masks and they were offered at a reduced price of $2.50 per mask plus tax with a limit of 4 mask per customer. Needless to say each store sold out within 45 minutes after opening at 7am. Around 2pm the same day, another 10 boxes were delivered to Forsyth Seafood Market by Don Flow. The reasoning behind this was to get as many masks to residents of East Winston as they could. Again the limit was 4, and long lines snaked along the business to buy masks from a food truck.
When contacting the city, there are no foreseeable plans to offer the mask for reduced price of $2.50. I was contacted by Renfro and their statement was that masks will eventually become available for sale through their website nightingalesafe.com. There is a link that lets you sign up for updates. I received an update Friday evening that the next offerings around the beginning of May would only consist of the opportunity to purchase a case of 96 masks at the cost of $6.75 per mask, a 10% reduction from their normal retail price. They also stated that smaller packs would be offered after they are able fulfill the high quantity of requests for the mask by corporations. Some of those corporations are outside our city and state.
The City of Winston-Salem answered my concerns that Friday seemed more like sales gimmick by telling me that I should refer to their announcement on April 6th on how to design and make your own cloth mask. They also gave this same answer to many others who expressed concern over the communication and availability of the mask.
It is a bit concerning that this initiative was launched to fit the city with masks, but the message was a bit botched. It looks like most of those of us who call Winston-Salem home will have to wait to pay a higher price for the mask, which was designed by Dr. Satterwhite at Wake Forest Baptist, and is billed to be closer to medical grade in its design and construction.
At this point it looks most of us those live in Winston-Salem will either have to pay a higher price for this mask, buy cloth masks from some of the great neighbors in the community who have been tirelessly working to make them, or follow the city instructions on how to make our own.