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Roseville church making masks for essential workers for Easter giveaway

Updated  April 9, 2020 11:39pm EDT
Roseville
FOX 2 Detroit

ROSEVILLE, Mich. (FOX2) - There was no worship service at Conquerors Church in Roseville Thursday, but those gathered here say they're still doing The Lord's work.

"I have black masks, I have brown ones, pink ones and purple ones," said Paula Wiley, a church member.

Roseville church making protective masks to give to essential workers on Easter

There was no worship service at Conquerors Church in Roseville Thursday, but those gathered here say they're still doing The Lord's work.

Wiley is one of several church members helping make what they call "essential packs" - bags of masks, gloves and disinfectant wipes, that they'll hand out by the hundreds this weekend to essential workers.

"So we're giving 500 away to all essential workers, grocery stores, box stores," said Pastor Sam Moore. "If you are serving people, we want to serve you."

Moore says they're targeting those workers and not nurses because these masks are not N95s. Even so, they're still welcome this Saturday. The church will hand out another 500 packs to the general public on April 18th. 

"We'll tell you how to file in, roll your window down, we'll hand it to you and you can keep rolling," Moore said. "As you can see every volunteer as they'll be serving, they'll have on their gloves, they'll have on their masks." 

"They're scarce right now. you can't find any masks, you can't find any gloves and everything so by me knowing how to sew, I just decided this is what I was going to do to help," said Wiley.

A little help is something most of us could use about now.  The novel coronavirus outbreak is taking a heavy toll on Michigan.

There are more 21,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 state-wide and more than a thousand deaths, the majority of which are here in southeast Michigan.

RELATED: Michigan confirms another 117 deaths, 1,158 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday

The COVID-19 crisis is hitting home for almost everyone there. So this is how they fight back. 

The significance of their efforts all the more poignant considering they'll start the essential packs giveaway Easter weekend.

"We're serving people," he said. "That's the whole idea and the greatest servant of all was Christ and this is the high day of his serving. How did he serve? He gave of himself, so we feel it robbery for us not to give of ourselves.

Goodwill in the grimmest of times - and hope in the hardest of them.

That giveaway for essential workers is set for noon Saturday. Roseville police and Macomb County Sheriff Deputies will be there to help facilitate the giveaway. It is for first-come, first serve essential workers.