Mattawa city staff come together for mask distribution

MATTAWA — The effort to educate the population of Mattawa about the COVID-19 virus started prior to the first positive test announced in the community. On March 6, leaders from various community organizations came together to discuss their initial plan of attack for how to combat the COVID-19 virus. Since then, community leaders and the staff at the city of Mattawa have been working together to promote the health and safety of their city during the COVID-19 crisis.

During a time that is threatening to tear people apart, the staff at the city of Mattawa have been coming together to help their community through free mask distributions, Facebook videos and the community-wide coalition that is working together to promote the same message.

As of Tuesday, June 9, city staff have distributed 3,325 masks to community members and health organizations. The masks they have distributed have come from donations from community and county groups and individuals.

According to Mattawa Public Works Director Juan Ledezma, the city got its original donations from REC in Moses Lake and from the state’s mask stock. The medical masks were passed on to the community’s medical facilities, while the rest were distributed to the community. Since then Cozy Comforts, a group of quilt makers in the Desert Aire area, has supplied most of the cloth masks that city staff has distributed. City council member Sun Hwang and the Tri-Cities Facemask Makers have also donated masks.

City staff originally targeted high-density areas of town, such as mobile home parks, for mask distribution. Then they turned to drive-thru events and handing them out in various parking lots in town.

“We’ve had three drive-thru mask distribution handouts,” Ledezma said. “We typically run out within 30 to 45 minutes.”

Another drive-thru event is scheduled for Thursday, June 11.

Mattawa City Clerk Anabel Martinez said that individuals have come from various places to receive a mask. During one distribution, a man drove over from Othello. While he didn’t arrive during the handout time frame, city staff were still able to provide him with a mask.

Mattawa city staff have said that they will continue to distribute masks as long as they continue to get them donated to the city. Mattawa Police Department Administrative Assistant Norma Avalos said that the ladies at Cozy Comforts, who are making the masks, are getting tired and are in “need of a lot of extra supplies.”

“The city is thankful for them,” Ledezma said. “They have done a good job.”

The city staff has also produced some videos that highlight the importance of safety and wearing masks.

“Juan (Ledezma), our aspiring videographer, has put together little short videos,” said Mattawa Police Chief Joe Harris. “They have had phenomenal success.”

The videos have been posted to the city of Mattawa Facebook page.

Another project that city staff have undertaken is making reopening plans for Mattawa’s businesses that had to close. Martinez and Deputy Clerk Jazmin Calvario worked with Sandi Duffey of Grant County Emergency Management to create a safety plan in both English and Spanish to help businesses know what they needed to do.

“Businesses have complied with everything we have said,” Calvario said.

City staff is also continuing to work with the community coalition that started on March 6. Each week, the coalition meets virtually to update the other members on what they are doing in the battle against COVID-19. With the arrival of the census, the coalition is also working together to promote filling out the census. The members of the coalition, which include Mattawa city staff, representatives from Mattawa’s health care facilities, the Wahluke School District, the Port of Mattawa, the Mattawa Food Bank, the Grant County Health District, Grant County Emergency Management, the Mexican Consulate and other community organizations, are creating a unified message regarding the COVID-19 crisis and the census.

One of the things that city staff is doing to combine the two messages is to hand out census information with masks during their next distribution. Avalos is also looking into possibly having a drive-thru census event to help those in need of assistance fill out their census forms.

The efforts that city staff and the coalition have put into battling COVID-19 seem to be working.

“We are no longer number two in the county,” Ledezma said of the number of positive tests the city has. “I think it is a combination of different factors, masks being one of them.”

“I think it is a combination of that, social distancing and the work that the city team has put in,” Harris said. “Citizens have jumped on board. As far as the team we have built and the things we’re doing, my hope is that it doesn’t stop.”

For more information about mask distributions through the city of Mattawa, contact city hall at 509-932-4037 or visit its Facebook page at city of Mattawa.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at [email protected].