Editor,

All of us at Island Transit want to send a big “thank you” to our community for its support and efforts during this awful COVID-19 pandemic.

As an essential public transit service, we are proud to be connecting essential workers to their jobs and others to the food, medicine and groceries they need. To do this safely, we found ourselves in need of a lot of face coverings.

In early April, we came very close to running out of masks for our operators and staff. At the same time, we decided that it was important to make them available to protect riders as well. Yet we did not have a ready supplier for these personal protection items. I can’t tell you how lucky we are to live in a community that cares as much about us and our riders as we care about them.

In response to our need, Island Transit received masks donated by four Rotary Clubs on Whidbey Island and China City owner Jack Ng, who donated the masks in honor of his mother, an Island Transit customer. Plus, many community volunteers stepped forward to sew fabric face coverings.

With all of those efforts and more, Island Transit can now hand out masks to our riders who need them, and also protect all of our employees. Thank-you for recognizing the importance of protecting one another. We are fortunate to live and work in such a caring community.

Todd E. Morrow, executive director

Island Transit