Nonprofit group is making durable, safe face masks for medical professionals

The first two face masks made by Compassionate Service Society East went to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Compassionate Service Society East, a Buddhist-inspired nonprofit, service organization, has designed and is producing reusable high-quality face masks to protect healthcare professionals at hospitals and staff at nursing homes who are working with people infected with COVID-19.

CSSE made 3,000 face masks and distributed them to sites throughout the D.C. region, including Leewood Healthcare Center in Annandale, says Executive Director Dyung Le. Other assisted living nursing homes that need face masks should contact dyung.le@gmail.com.

Volunteers at work.

The project started at the suggestion of one of the society’s members, Dr. Quốc Dũng Trần, chair of the anesthesiology department at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital,

Due to the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, Trần says doctors and other healthcare providers have to reuse single-use masks all day and even longer.

CSSE makes face masks out of material produced by the Halyard company used by anesthesiologists to protect their equipment. The masks can be used reused safely multiple times. Trần and other doctors donated the material.

A seamstress who owns Diana’s Couture and Bridal shop in Georgetown coordinates the project, without about three or four professional seamstresses and 15 to 20 other volunteers. 

Face masks made from Halyard material.

They have so made 1,000 Halyard face masks for medical professionals and 2,000 cloth face masks for nursing homes. The professionals can make 100 a day, while the other volunteers make about 20 a week, Le says.

The group partnered with Hope for Tomorrow, a Vietnamese service organization based in Rockville, Md., to raise funds for the project. CSSE is accepting donations to supports its face mask program.

CSSE, based in Vienna, started in 2017 as an offshoot of its parent organization in Orange County, Calif. The group offers free classes in tai chi and meditation, as well as carrying out community service projects.