This story was updated Aug. 10, 2020
The City of Gastonia will partner with Parkdale Mills a second time to give away free masks at a drive-through event on Saturday, Aug. 15 at the WOW Market in Gastonia.
EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, from 10 a.m.-noon
PLACE: WOW Market parking lot, 2557 W. Franklin Rd.
- This is a rain or shine event.
- Masks are free while supplies last; first come, first served.
- One mask will be given to each person in the car.
“This is a great opportunity for us to partner with one of our corporate citizens for the betterment of our community,” said City Manager Michael Peoples. “We are all invested in the health of our community and this is another way to get masks into the hands of more people to help during the pandemic.”
Andy Warlick, CEO of Parkdale Mills wanted to do something to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The company created the I Wear, I Care® campaign to encourage the public to “Join the Movement” of promoting mask wearing and to provide essential protection to the community. The website allows the public to buy a mask and one will be donated to another community member; buy masks for an organization and masks will be sent directly to the organization; or host a drive-through mask event. Parkdale Mills has produced and distributed over 100 million masks to help support our nation’s first responders.
“Giving free masks to the community is important to our company,” said Andy Warlick. “We want to create positive reinforcement in the community to help get past this pandemic.”
The City and Parkdale Mills also gave away thousands of face masks during a drive-though event on Aug. 1.
The masks are manufactured by Parkdale Mills in Gastonia and are not recommended for medical environments but do meet Centers for Disease Control guidelines for reducing the spread of the coronavirus.
