CLEVELAND — Cleveland-area lawyer Kira Krivosh and state Sen. Nickie Antonio have filled a fourth tree with face masks as part of The Giving Tree Project—an organization they founded with a goal of ensuring everyone has a face mask to protect themselves and others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What You Need To Know
- An attorney and a senator have teamed up to provide face masks to those who may not be able to afford or have access to the protective gear
- The Giving Tree Project has decorated four northeast Ohio trees with free face masks for residents
- The Giving Tree Project has been able to give out thousands of masks since May
“The state is not providing masks to people at the local level, not to our schoolchildren. We didn’t budget for them, even though some of us have fought for it, it’s not there at the federal level. The PPE for every-day people is not there,” Antonio said.
Attached to the leaves and branches are handmade cloth masks that anyone may take.
In May, the first giving tree was decorated in Rocky River followed by two others in Lakewood and in a Cleveland shopping center. The fourth is now located in East Cleveland at the Empowerment Church. Pastor Anthony Mattox said he’s proud to partner with the giving tree project to offer resources the community so desperately needs.
“We were already struggling before this pandemic, so many families and children and seniors in East Cleveland, to make ends meet and to get by. This pandemic has now exacerbated that problem, many of them don’t have jobs, or they’re underemployed, and so it’s difficult for everything from meals to even buying masks now they have to kind of choose between the two,” Mattox said.
Krivosh said The Giving Tree Project has been able to give out thousands of masks thanks to more than 30 sewers in the state who volunteer their time and talent. She says just as quickly as the trees are filled, they are emptied.
“What I really hope people remember and think about is there’s a lot of inequities within the world, and we just really need to take care of each other and work together and during that,” Krivosh said.
“Our desire is to give out hope, and what this tree does is it continues to give out hope,” Mattox said. “It reminds people that people are thinking about them that they’re not out here by themselves, that they’re not struggling alone, and that there are churches and organizations who genuinely care about their needs.”
