Big Island inmates sew and donate cloth masks for those in need

HONOLULU — Inmates in the Hawaii Community Correctional Center and Kulani Correctional Facility sewing program, under the direction of Hawaii Correctional Industries, made 920 cloth face coverings for those in need in the community. The masks were made with materials that were donated by people from all over Hawaii Island.

“The men assisted in choosing what organizations the masks would be delivered to and worked hard to quickly finish sewing them so they could be delivered to community organizations this week. They are thankful to be given an opportunity to use their recently learned sewing skills to give something positive back to the community,” said Kulani Warden Wanda Craig.

The masks were delivered to the following agencies: Friends of the Children’s Justice Center of East Hawaii , Hope Services Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center, Hawaii Care Choices, Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home, Legacy Hilo Rehabilitation &Nursing Center and Life Care Center of Hilo.

Inmates in the sewing program at the two Big Island facilities and at the Waiawa Correctional Facility, are producing as many as 4,000 masks a day for sale through HCI. HCI is estimating that the program will be able to produce more than 300,000 masks for sale across the state by the end of June.

“We would like to extend a huge mahalo to our new partner Aloha Air Cargo. They graciously offered to ship completed masks from Hilo to Oahu free of charge, and we can’t thank them enough for offering their service to us during these trying times,” said Shawntay Yasuda, HCI operations manager.

HCI is taking orders from state agencies and the public. Hawaii Correctional Industries can be reached at 677-6638 or by email at psd.hawaiici@hawaii.gov.