Staff at the Altoona VA hospital distribute hundreds of masks to area veterans

ALTOONA, Pa (WJAC) — Employees at the James E van Zandt VA medical center in Altoona handed out between 700 and 1,000 washable cloth masks on Wednesday to veterans.

The masks will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and any veteran who has a VA identification card can receive one.

The masks were made by the doctors, nurses and the administrative staff.

The staff says close to 1,700 masks have been produced in the past two weeks and the employees have been excited to help.

"We’re always excited about what we do. You know, when you serve those who have served, especially when a third of your employees are veterans, and it turns out better helping veterans, this kind of environment, this kind of energy is with us every single day when we do it. You’re just seeing it now because we’re delivering masks to veterans, but we’re doing it because we know it’s the right thing to do,” said Shaun Shenk, VA relations.

The staff says they plan on continuing to make masks and several community partners have provided support in the effort.

Medical center officials say a mask will be provided to a veteran if they come in for an appointment and don’t have one.

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