"It is obvious today that masks are needed for all, especially in the perspective of deconfinement". Against the coronavirus, the novelist Alexandre Jardin launched on Friday April 24 the free distribution of cloth masks at supermarket checkouts. "I think the government is doing what it can, but the account is not there and the country is not ready," says the author of Fanfan. To participate in the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic, the writer had the idea of mobilizing mass retail chains and a group of fashion designers. He presents this operation, "Solidarity mask".
You are launching with the large distribution an operation to distribute masks for free. How will it work?
ALEXANDRE GARDEN. We were inspired by a regional experience, called "Masks in the North". They mobilized 10,000 volunteer couturier (s) to make barrier masks and it is depot. I wondered how we could extend this experience to all of France. The association Paris Good Fashion, which counts among its members around sixty companies in the fashion sector, has succeeded in mobilizing 30,000 seamstresses, who will make fabric masks. We then put around the table three large distribution companies (Intermarché, Carrefour and Monoprix) who will be responsible for distributing them free of charge to their customers at the checkout. The three of them have 6,000 points of sale in France, one every ten kilometers, and are open seven days a week.
Who can benefit from these masks?
In priority, customers of the most fragile supermarkets. Common sense is to act as we do within our families. We all started by protecting our parents and grandparents. But the more masks we have, the more we will make, and the more we can distribute to the greatest number. Each store participating in the operation may also contact the town hall to find out what their priority needs are.
How to find the material to make these masks?
Fabric is everywhere. In our closets, but also in the ready-to-wear boutiques that are now closed. We therefore launch an appeal to brands, which have monumental unsold stocks, to provide us with the raw material. In return, they can benefit from a tax deduction of 60% of the value of the stock they will give us by logging on to the site. This call also concerns individuals whose closets are overflowing with textiles. They can provide them by registering on this site.
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At the start of the crisis, the government tended to say that masks were useless ...
Frankly, who could believe that, when we see the whole world wearing it? It is obvious today that masks are needed for all, especially in the perspective of deconfinement. France will not be able to restart without if people are afraid to take the metro because they do not have masks at their disposal. However, it is very complicated to bring them from abroad and we must stop hoping for all imports. I think the government is doing what it can, but the account is not there and the country is not ready. Hence this call for national union. When there are huge fires in France, we extinguish fires thanks to the mobilization of volunteer firefighters who provide support to professional firefighters. Well, today, it's the same: you have to move and prepare for the emergency. And if we succeed, it will be the collective success of a country in itself.
