Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. decided to make a personal delivery to distribute 700 masks made by Suffolk County Correctional Facility inmates to locations throughout Suffolk County to essential workers and residents of area nursing homes to the Stop and Shop in South Setauket, surprising the workers and shoppers. After walking around the store to greet employees, he spoke briefly to all the cashiers and some shoppers at the front of the store and thanked them for their service to the community.
“I want all of you to know that you are essential to getting us all through this pandemic. We at the Sheriff’s Office care about your safety and well-being and I thank you for your service to the community,” said the Sheriff.
Sheriff Toulon recently joined with others, like 9/11 activist John Feal, in calling for all Americans to come together to protect and support our essential workforce, who need appropriate PPE to safely do their jobs.
“Just because some of our key indicators are showing progress in this fight against the spread of COVID 19, Long Island and the metro area are still experiencing high rates of transmission. We need to do more to ensure those on the frontlines, our essential workers, are protected,” said Sheriff Toulon.
County inmates have been making thousands of face masks as part of a new Sewing Initiative that started two weeks ago. Under the initiative, all county inmates are issued two washable cloth masks and any additional masks are being donated to essential workers, senior citizens, and nursing home staff.
