The founding story
Many hands.
One shared purpose.
A call for help in northern New Jersey grew into a community of more than 475 volunteers, reaching frontline workers and organizations across the country.
Where it began
Modern-day Rosies
JoAnn Gregoli always thought it was a happy coincidence that she was connected to Rosie the Riveter through her son-in-law’s grandmother Mary Doyle Keefe, who modeled for Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1943 painting. Little did JoAnn know, she herself would inspire a movement of modern-day Rosies.
A resident of Sparta, NJ, JoAnn had two children working on the front lines and learned from her daughter, a physician assistant, that healthcare workers lacked basic personal protective equipment and weren’t prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic.
As an international event planner and owner of Elegant Occasions, JoAnn’s first instinct was to organize and mobilize others to make masks and transport them to the hospitals where they were most needed.
During that shortage, the group’s original account described hand-sewn masks being used in non-COVID-19 care and as covers for N95 masks.
The community answered
Calling all
Sewing Angels
JoAnn shared a GoFundMe page on Facebook, and the movement quickly took off. Her call to action inspired friends including her former client Christine Preston of Madison, NJ, who shared it on her own community pages.
In less than a week, the two women had enlisted more than 150 volunteers to sew masks, cut fabric, and donate supplies of all kinds. The movement grew to include more than 475 volunteers and spread across the country.
See the community in action →Small stitches.
Remarkable reach.
masks made
scrub caps made
hospitals, facilities & organizations supported
Our impact
Care that reached
across the country.
More than 65,000 masks and 20,000 scrub caps were distributed to more than 150 hospitals, medical facilities, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, shelters, community organizations, and nonprofits.
Organizations supported View the preserved recipient list
- Andover Subacute Center
- Archangel Raphael Mission (ARM)
- Atlantic Mobile Health
- Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute
- Bayada Home Healthcare
- Bayshore Medical Center (Hackensack)
- Bergen County Dialysis
- Boston Children’s Hospital
- Bridges Outreach (Summit & Newark)
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Brightview Senior Living and Hospice
- Camden School Lunch Program
- Campassus Hospice
- Center for Great Expectations
- Celebration Nursing Home (Florida)
- Chatham EMS Squad
- Chatham Boro Fire Department
- Cheshire Home
- Chilton Medical Center
- Childrens Hospital Colorado (Colorado Springs)
- Childrens Hospital Colorado (Aurora)
- Christ Hospital (Jersey City)
- City of Orange Community Services
- Clara Maass Hospital (Belleville)
- Coney Island Hospital (Brooklyn)
- Communities in Cooperation (Newark & Roselle)
- Community Coordinated Childcare (Union City)
- Convent Avenue Baptist Church (NYC)
- Cooper Hospital Camden
- Daughters of Israel Home
- Dover General (ER)
- Daytop Crawford House
- Duke University Hospital (Durham, NC)
- Edison Community Center (Edison)
- Elizabeth Coalition
- Elizabethport Presbyterian Center
- Family Promise
- Franklin Lab Corp (Long Valley)
- Garden Terrace Nursing Home
- Genesis Center (Providence, RI)
- Green Village Fire Department
- Hackensack Hospital
- Harbor
- Hoboken General
- Holy Name Medical Center (Teaneck)
- In Your Hands Foundation
- Interfaith Food Pantry of the Oranges
- JFK Medical Center
- Jersey City Medical Center
- Johns Hopkins
- Joi’s Angels (East Orange)
- Josephine’s Place : A Space for Women
- Juniper Village Assisted Living
- Kankakee County Training Center
- Karen Ann Quinlan Center (Andover)
- Kingwood Medical Center (Houston)
- Lehigh Valley Medical Center (PA)
- Lyons VA Hospital
- Madison Animal Hospital
- Madison Pharmacy
- Madison Seniors
- Madison Senior Housing
- Madison Senior Shopping Network
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Meals for Chatham Students in Need
- Meals for Madison Students in Need
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Mercy Hospital (Pittsburgh)
- Ministerio el Sol (Jersey City)
- Morristown Medical Center
- Mt. Sinai Hospital (NYC)
- Navajo Nation
- New Bridge Medical Center
- Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
- Newton Medical Center
- New Jersey Black Women Physicians Group
- NJ Citizen Action (Newark)
- New York University Hospital (NYC)
- Norwescap
- NYU Langone (NYC)
- NYU School of Medicine
- Ocean Inc.
- Overlook Medical Center
- Pillar Continuum
- Pine Acres Nursing Home
- Prevention Links (Elizabeth)
- Pride Center of New Jersey
- Raritan Bay Medical Center
- Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
- Santa Clarita Hospital
- Santa Clara County Medical Association
- Sophia Seminary – Ukrainian Cultural Center
- St. Barnabas Hospital
- St. Clare’s Hospital (Denville)
- St. Elizabeth’s Convent
- St. Joseph’s Hospital (Patterson)
- Strengthen Our Sisters Women’s Shelter
- Summit Medical Group
- Summit Medical Group Cancer Center
- Sunrise House (Newton)
- Sunrise Assisted Living
- Tom’s River Community Medical Center
- Trinitas Medical Center
- United Way Central Jersey – Elijah’s Promise
- University Hospital (Newark)
- University Hospital (Jersey City)
- USS Nimitz 50 black masks
- Yale New Haven
- VA NY Harbor Healthcare System
- Valley Hospital (Ridgewood)
- Villa Walsh Sisters
- Walgreen’s Pharmacy (Madison)
- Women Rising
- Zufall Health