OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — On Sunday afternoon, in partnership with several groups including the Omaha First Responders Foundation, the Consulate of Mexico here in Omaha hosted a mask give away drive through.
Around 4,000 masks went to those in need at the consulate. The drive-thru event looked to help lower the number of COVID-19 cases within the Hispanic community.
"In most of the cases, they don't have masks," said Tania Flores with the consulate. "So we're trying to spread the word to use the mask. It's safe for all of them. It's safe for all of us."
Last month, data reported by our partners at the Omaha World-Heraldshowed that those in Nebraska's Hispanic community make up for 60% of coronavirus cases and one in four COVID-related deaths.
But the event was more than just masks, the consulate was also giving out informational packets in Spanish.
"They had information about health, about how to take care of those kind of things," FLores said. "They also have information, we have a collaboration with Bellevue University, so they have information about education and scholarships. And also information about important things when they go to Mexico."
The consulate has been working to hand out this information and masks during regular business hours. Still, they thought the drive-thru event would be an excellent opportunity to reach even more people.
"It's safer for everyone just to do the drive thru, so that's why we thought it was a good idea, just to give away," Flores said.
A representative with the Omaha Fire Department said of around 70,000 masks the Omaha First Responders Foundation had planned to give out over the past several weeks, only a few thousand remain.
