As COVID-19 started knocking on BC’s door last Spring, the rural community of Rossland banded together to keep it out. Residents started #Masks4All Rossland, a grassroots campaign to promote mask wearing to protect one another—and to provide residents, particularly vulnerable seniors, with cloth masks.

The campaign truly took a village. Spearheaded by Dr. Samantha Segal, the campaign was coordinated, supported and promoted by the Kootenay Boundary Physicians Association, the municipal government, the Rotary Club, businesses and residents. A tireless crew of local seamstresses sewed the masks.

“The beauty of living remotely is that we come together,” the Kootenay Boundary Physicians Association told RCCbc. “… the community seamstresses felt like they were making a difference and they were, donations of money and material streamed in to help aid the materials to make the masks, local shops helped [with] distribution, Rotary helped in any way they could—amazing what we can do together!”

These sentiments couldn’t be more true. In just four months, #Masks4All  Rossland made and distributed more than 2,000 masks, free to any community member who wanted one.