It’s a safe bet that Guilford County government, in past years, hasn’t spent $150,000 on facemasks and hand-sanitizer, but the county just conducted a recent mass purchase of those items and now it has the task of getting them into the hands of the members of the community who need them.

“We have talked about the distribution method,” said Guilford County Emergency Management Director Don Campbell. “We have currently been handing out cloth face coverings and some hand sanitizer – when we have it – at our testing events through the health department already. Some of our community partners have gotten some as well.”

Campbell said the plan is to continue handing those out at testing events as well as make the items available at some of the county’s high-traffic spots like the social services buildings in Greensboro and High Point and the health department buildings that are frequented by the public.

He said the county also plans to work with area non-profits and other community partners to make sure that masks and bottles of sanitizer reach Guilford County’s “marginalized” communities. The Guilford County Board of Commissioners, like state government, has been focused during the pandemic on seeing that minority, low-income and non-English speaking members of the community have the tools they need to help battle the spread of the virus.

He added that right now the county didn’t have a list of which organizations it would be working with in order to distribute the items into those communities.

Though some county services have remained closed during the pandemic, Guilford County’s health department has remained open and a good number of people still use the facilities.

Commissioner Skip Alston said he wants to make sure that area churches are part of the distribution effort. He said that, though many remain essentially closed, church offices can let people know the items are available.

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