At Spectrum Health Systems, we’re lucky to have an external network of dedicated individuals who donate their time and effort to help us with our mission. One of those incredible individuals is Shana Adams, founder of Masks Made With Love/MetroWest MA.
“Back when the pandemic started here and nobody could get masks, I started a Facebook page and reached out to people who then reached out to their friends and here we are now with 600 volunteer Angels,” Shana explained. “We got people to sew, people to cut fabric and test the fabric to ensure it is 100% cotton. We even got drivers to pick up and deliver the masks, people from all over donated fabric and elastic, we even have a gentleman who fixes our sewing machines.”
Shana and her team donated 1,491 masks to Spectrum staff, all of whom continued to work to treat our clients during COVID-19. “We wanted to focus on the places who needed the masks but couldn’t get them, like assisted living homes, VA hospitals, homeless shelters, rehabs, people with compromised immune systems, cancer units, and some of our local police and fire departments,” she said.
Shana was no stranger to Spectrum when she started Masks Made with Love on March 28. Her father, Michael Adams, worked for our food service partner, NexDine, at our facilities before retiring last year. And every year, we host a Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas dinner for clients, all cooked and served by volunteers and NexDine.
“We go to Spectrum every year to serve the clients food for the holidays,” she said. “The whole event is mind blowing and you get to know that clients are just average people who are struggling. Society has such a negative view on drug addiction and to actually sit down and have a conversation and serve them, makes you realize that they’re one of us. Addiction truly is an illness.”
Shana’s love for charity goes way back to 2003 beginning with dog rescue. In 2018, she started the Unknown Angels Project with Rich Martino, a 501c3 nonprofit where they extend their service to all kinds of people in difficult situations. From raising money to pay for the hospital bills of car accident victims, to donating 8,000 flip flops to children in Afghanistan and sending care packages to our deployed military, charity is in her blood.
“I’m great at coordinating and logistics, and people really just come together to make it all happen. It truly takes a team to get things done,” Shana shared. If we saved one person’s life from getting COVID-19, then it makes it all worthwhile.
Since March, Masks Made with Love has raised $4,500 via donations and they’ve created over 11,000 masks at no charge to those who need them. For anyone interested in helping donate to the cause, visit the group’s Facebook page and hit the join button.
If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, call us today at 1-877-MyRehab and learn more about our programming. Hope is here!
