A small cloth facemask can be a powerful tool.
This has been proved during the past six months or so when the mask was found to be effective in slowing the spread of Covid-19.
But island resident Chris Willi found another use. He designed a mask with a small profile of the island on the left hand side of the cloth — a white image sitting in a sea of blue — sold them for $6 and then turned over a check for more than $5,100 to the Block Island Volunteer Fire Department.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, from a business perspective, I was concerned with businesses having access to masks and sanitizer,” said Willi. Island resident Sandra Finizia “put me in touch with her sister-in-law that makes masks. They were inexpensive and then I sent an email out to the businesses and said they were available in case you have a shortage.”
The masks soon became Block Island chic. They were ubiquitous during the summer.
“The motivation for it being a fundraiser for the Fire Department and and Rescue was because the Rescue Squad was short-handed and the Fire Department couldn’t hold their fundraisers. You couldn’t
