"Where There's A Need, There's A Lion!"
District 23-C of Lions Clubs International serves Middlesex, New London, Tolland, and Windham Counties in Connecticut received a $10,000 grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation to purchase personal protective equipment such as disinfectant, face shields, masks, gloves and gowns for local hospitals, police departments, fire departments, nursing homes and more. According to The Day, Mary Krogh, treasurer for Lions District 23-C, said the supplies were being delivered to about 150 locations.
As Mary Krogh was reaching out to hospital and nursing homes to assess their needs and acquire hard to find items, she heard about West Haven-based removable insulation manufacturer Thermaxx putting aside its regular business to design, cut, and sew Thermaxx Gowns for first responders, hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare professionals in need. Mary contacted Brian Bannon, President of Thermaxx, to see how her Lions Club district could help.
Putting Out The Call For Help
Brian shared that Thermaxx had purchased and received donations of hundreds of rolls of home wrap material used in manufacturing the gowns, but needed sewers to assemble their precut patterns. Due to the COVID-19 shutdown & social distancing limitations, Thermaxx could not bring in more sewers to get the job done. So, Lions District 23-C Governor Diana Grise put out a call to Lions in their district, and recruited more than 50 members & their families to sew gowns, Krogh said.
With the help of volunteers from AAA Northeast, the precut materials were delivered from Thermaxx to locations near volunteers across District 23-C and their work began.
Disposable Gowns Are Made & Delivered
In less than 2 weeks, more than 500 gowns had been sewn and delivered to those in need. To date, 1200 gowns have been sewed in total. Many of the recipients were local organizations in District 23-C, which made the volunteers' hard work & dedication even more meaningful. Gown recipients included:
- Moosup Fire Dept.
- American Ambulance in Norwich
- Mansfield Fire Dept.
- Coventry Fire Dept.
- Chest Elm Convalescent, East Haddam
- Wadsworth Glen Nursing, Middletown
- Cobalt Lodge, East Hampton
- Harrington Court, Colchester
- Apple Rehab in Old Saybrook
- South Killingly Fire Dept.
- South Windham Fire
- Ellington Ambulance
- Stafford Fire
- Bolton Fire House
- Colchester Fire Dept.
- Lebanon Fire Dept.
- Portland Care & Rehab
- Ledyard Fire
- Gales Ferry Fire
- American Ambulance in Norwich
- Groton Regency
- Health Care Services Group
- Canterbury Fire Dept.
- Chester Fire Dept.
- Fox Hill in Vernon
- Mansfield Fire Dept.
- Salem Fire Dept.
- Willimantic Fire Dept.
- Salem Fire Dept.
- Durham Fire Dept.
- Aaron Manor
- Chester Fire Dept.
- Somers Fire Dept.
- Cromwell Ambulance
- Regal Health Care
- Scotland Ambulance
- Thompson Hill Fire Dept
- Tolland Fire Dept
- Vernon EMS
- Vernon Manor Nursing Home
- Vernon Police Dept
- Willington Fire
- Twin Maple Nursing Home
- Union Fire Dept
- Autumn Lake Healthcare
- Beechwood Convalescent
- Bride Brook Health and Rehabilitation Center
- Evergreen Nursing Home
- Fairview Nursing Home
- Gladeview Rehabilitation & Health Care Center
- Greentree Manor
- Harbor Village Rehabilitation & Nursing
- Madison House
- Marlborough Health Care
- Matulatis Rehab
- Mortlake Fire
- Notre Dame Nursing Home
- Avalon Health Care Center
- The Saybrook at Haddam
- Stonington Ambulance
- & more...
The Fight Goes On
"We Serve," is Lions Clubs International motto and the members of District 23-C certainly have served their community when it mattered most. Without their ongoing help, the gowns would never have been ready for use during this critical time for the many first responders, hospitals, nursing homes, and other organizations in need.
Thermaxx, Lions District 23-C, and many other good-willed businesses and organizations continue to work together to produce disposable gowns for communities in need across CT and beyond. A nursing home in Texas recently submitted a request for disposable gowns, so Mary Krogh contacted the Lions in their area and sent them 20 gowns to be delivered to those in need. The Texas lions then committed to joining the fight against COVID-19 by sewing & delivering gowns for their community, so Thermaxx is donating 300 gowns to support their efforts!
Thank you to all the members of Lions District 23-C who volunteered to organize, sew, & deliver gowns:
- ROB HOSKIN
- TERRY PELLETIER
- BETSY BURGESS
- SHARON KANABY
- DENA LIEDKE
- TERI SCHLOSSER
- LEE ANDERSON
- KAREN CSERE
- HEIDI WORTHINGTON
- JANICE NOWIK
- JIFFY SPENCER
- CAROL PAJOR
- TOM AND PATTY ADAMS
- JOANNE PAGE
- TERRY BYASSEE
- LISA GRADZEWICZ
- EDIE WATROUS
- ERICA MONTIE
- NANCY KEYES
- BETSY BARNEY
- JOANNE MOOREHEAD
- LAURA ROWE
- SHARON KANABY
- CINDY BIANCAMO
- TOM ADAMS
- CASEY JACOB
- SUE FISHER
- DENA LIEDKE
- MICHELE WYATT
- KIT EVES
- TERI SCHLOSSER
- LEE ANDERSON
- DEB PEPIN
- LINDA LEVASSEUR
- JOY WYATT
- MARTHA POOLE
- KAREN CSERE
- HEIDI WORTHINGTON
- ROB HOSKIN
- JANICE NOWAK
- PAULA ROSWELL
See Lions District 23-C Volunteers In Action
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Thermaxx Jackets
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