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Free Face Masks Distributed For Homeless And Vulnerable Groups

Cristal Krauss wears her newly acquired face mask she received from Muslim Coalition for America at Chula Vista's Harborside Park, Oct. 20, 2020.
Jacob Aere
Cristal Krauss wears her newly acquired face mask she received from Muslim Coalition for America at Chula Vista's Harborside Park, Oct. 20, 2020.

“Operation Masks For All” has an ambitious goal to provide personal protective equipment for California’s entire homeless population.

Muslim Coalition for America is the team in charge of the initiative. On Tuesday, they distributed reusable face masks at Chula Vista’s Harborside Park.

Free Face Masks Distributed For Homeless And Vulnerable Groups
Listen to this story by Jacob Aere.

The end goal is to give out 40,000 face masks across San Diego County.

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Omar Qudrat is the founder of Muslim Coalition for America and said their task force began in June and is now in many locations throughout California.

“So we've been up and down the Golden State. In San Diego County we are partnered with the task force on the homeless to try our best to provide face masks for the entire unsheltered homeless population of San Diego County,” Qudrat said.

The non-profit has also partnered with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and all 458 Boys & Girls Clubs in California to provide facemasks to the homeless populations across the state.

RELATED: Coronavirus Hasn’t Devastated The Homeless As Many Feared

And the organization is also distributing masks to other at-risk groups.

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“Beyond the unsheltered homeless population, we are also providing face masks to disadvantaged or vulnerable populations including economically challenged families,” Qudrat said.

The distribution of masks in Chula Vista is just the first in a series of distributions throughout San Diego County.

San Diego came close but was not quite pushed into the most restrictive Covid-19 tier due to the county’s high testing rate. Also we’ll review measures B, C and D on this year’s ballot. Plus, San Diego’s Asian Film festival returns.