Providing support during pandemic

WAYNE  Arlene Sullivan, a Wayne resident and visual/graphic arts teacher at Morris Catholic High School in Denville, delivered 200 transparent medical masks to facilities in need this past week.

Masks were given out to Wayne healthcare workers in Care One, thanks to the request of Gary Marchese, a volunteer, and to Preak­ness Healthcare Center/William Paterson University testing site, thanks to County Freeholder John Bartlett. In addition, masks also went to The Chelsea in Montville and the Kessler Rehab Hospital in Saddle Brook, due to direct requests for help.

Sullivan has been 3D printing Prusa i3 parts practically non-stop since the shutdown began in mid-March. Working with a grassroots organization in Newton, which started out with robotics teachers in three Sussex County high schools — Newton High, Lenape Valley and Vernon — and has now expanded to more than 50 participants, Sullivan has been delivering printed parts weekly to Jim Hofmann in Newton where they are assembled, packaged in bundles of 25 and delivered to facilities in need. “Originally the goal was 1,000 but with all the volunteers joining in, we have distributed more than 5,000 masks and the number is growing because the need for safe equipment for healthcare workers is still so desperate. I am honored to be able to do something positive in these terribly frightening times,” Sullivan said.