The Alaska Coalition for Veteran and Military Families (AKCVMF) recently launched Project Facemask, an operation to provide masks to veterans, active-duty members and their families on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and the Anchorage area to help contain the spread of COVID-19. AKCVMF purchased materials to sew masks and employed more than 25 military spouses for the effort.
AKCVMF had a continued need to make additional face masks but had run out of local resources to fund the project. Through their collaboration with America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP), they contacted AWP’s national coordination platform, The Network. The Network collaborated with their national partners, advocating AKCVMF’s need to the Gary Sinise Foundation, whose generous donation allowed Project Facemask to continue. The Network successfully connected a local organization to its network of national partners and bridged the gap between communities. The AKCVMF is now able to continue providing masks and part-time employment for the communities it serves.