MARKHAM, Ont. – Though PINKSTIX is traditionally known in the fashion community for its vegan handbags, it’s turning heads these days thanks to its generosity and cotton face masks it’s creating.
Weeks ago, Gary Lau of PINKSTIX decided to do something helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. With lots of fabric available and time on his hands, Lau and his family started creating cotton face masks for friends and family so they could stay safe during essential trips.
“It was around then we heard on the news that hospitals had PPE shortages,” Lau said. “So I was thinking, we are busy making masks for ourselves, and we have lots of extra fabric, why don’t we try and sell some masks online and raise funds to donate medical-grade face shields to our local hospital?”
And that’s exactly was PINKSTIX started doing – making and sewing cotton masks with a plaid pattern in large quantities and began selling them on their website to the public.
“We completely sold out of the plaid masks and were able to collect more than $1,200 which bought us 100 PPE face shields for healthcare workers at the Markham Stouffville Hospital,” Lau said.
Lau said PINKSTIX chose the hospital as it is their local hospital, and because he was a patient there a couple of years ago.
“I owe my life to this hospital,” he said. “I had a health issue two years ago and I came here for treatment, so it’s the least we could do to help.”
Lau said that he and his family are currently working on a new campaign where they will be making brightly-coloured cotton masks and donating them to nurses in long-term care facilities and nursing homes in their area in support of National Nurses Week that is set for May 6-12.
“It’s our way of celebrating those healthcare heroes we need to keep safe,” Lau said. “And it’s a great way for my family to keep positive, keep moving, and give back to our community.”