Brookline Cub Scout Pack 260 donated snacks and thank-you cards to Southern New Hampshire Health last week.

NASHUA – Calling all unprotected faces: The MaskMobile is coming. And it’s headed right for Nashua.

So named for its cargo – tens of thousands of “lightweight, washable, reusable, double-woven cloth facemasks” – the MaskMobile is due in Nashua for a weekend visit, during which time teams of volunteers, chiefly local Rotarians, will be handing out the masks free of charge to anyone who asks for them.

The distribution site, at Nashua High School South, will be open from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.

Those who plan to go will see signs directing them to the site once they turn onto Riverside Street. Drivers and passengers will remain in their vehicles, and pull up to the distribution site as directed by volunteers.

The energy behind the mass mask-distribution project comes from a pair of gregarious New Hampshire businessmen, who, quite wisely, reached out to members of Rotary clubs for assistance in planning, implementing and coordinating the large-scale giveaways.

United Way of Greater Nashua recently provided Nashua PAL families with diapers, baby wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, bandanas and more.

The businessmen – longtime Rotarians Alex Ray, CEO of The Common Man restaurants, and Steve Rand, third-generation owner of the historic A.M. Rand Hardware store in downtown Plymouth – ordered some 67,000 masks from Honduras, and when the shipment arrived in Miami, the two headed south to pick them up.

A 24-hour road trip later, the masks were in the Granite State awaiting distribution at various sites.

Greeting mask-seekers in Nashua will be volunteers from Nashua Rotary, Nashua Rotary West and Souhegan Valley Rotary.

Ray and Rand call their masks-for-everyone campaign “Mask Up NH!” Additional information can be found at www.maskupnh.com.

According to Ray, the Maskmobile is actually his Common Man Trolley, which he repurposed for use at the giveaways.

Health care professionals on 3 North at St. Joseph Hospital celebrate Mother’s Day.

The Maskmobile made its debut at the first giveaway, which took place in Plymouth two weeks ago in partnership with volunteers from the Plymouth Rotary Club.

“Rotarians understand that wearing a mask in public places and social distancing are the two most important ways that everyday citizens can help contain the spread of the coronavirus and keep our communities healthy and thriving,” Ray wrote in a statement that was posted on Facebook.

“Every person who wears a mask is announcing his or her effort to help contain the virus.”

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Thank You, Unsung Heroes

New England Yard Signs surprised workers at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua with a ‘HEROES WORK HERE’ sign.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many local organizations, businesses and everyday citizens have stepped up to the plate to help those in need. We thank:

• All nonprofit organizations in Greater Nashua and the Souhegan Valley

• Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

• Milford Medical Center

• Southern New Hampshire Medical Center

Windham native Sahil Maripuri started a foundation several years ago in honor of his mother, Shalini, who passed away suddenly from a heart attack. Last week, on behalf of the foundation, Sahil worked with Tuscan Market in Salem to deliver 300 gourmet meals – 150 lunch and 150 dinners – to Elliot Hospital in Manchester. The donated meals went to nurses and staff at the hospital.

• St. Joseph Hospital

• Convenient MD

• Urgent Care

• All doctors, nurses and first responders

• Area teachers

Courtesy photo The Common Man restaurant is teaming up with Mask Up, New Hampshire, to distribute free cloth masks in Nashua this weekend. They will be at Nashua High School South from 3-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

• Law enforcement agencies

• 911 dispatchers

• Fire departments

• Area restaurants and restaurant workers

• Area grocery stores and grocery store workers

• Sanitation, waste removal and DPW workers

• Area funeral homes and their staffs

• National, state, county and city officials

• All essential workers

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This content is being provided for free as a public service to our community during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Telegraph at https://home.nashuatelegraph.com/clickshare/checkDelivery.do;jsessionid=40C089D96583CD7318C1C1D9317B6162.

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