Currie Motors Frankfort distributes thousands of masks to residents in need

Jason Latif said he left My Joyful Heart in Mokena with tears in his eyes after he dropped off a box of 2,500 face masks.

The Mokena-based nonprofit provides life’s necessities and encouragement to area children and teens, many of whom are homeless or are from low-income households.

Latif, general manager at Currie Motors Ford in Frankfort, said he received a tour of the facility and was impressed at the work My Joyful Heart does.

“It’s amazing how we’re all in this together,” Latif said. “Everyone is in the same boat with fighting [COVID-19].”

Latif said Ford had reached out to him and asked whether he’d like to be part of a national initiative to distribute face masks in his community. Latif said he absolutely did, and Ford sent 18,000 face masks.

“It was for a great cause, and there was no way I could turn it down,” said Latif, a Frankfort resident for 16 years. “They provided everything.”

Currie Motors also distributed face masks (more than 2,200 to each) to the Frankfort Children’s Museum, Frankfort Public Library, Frankfort Park District, Mokena Fire Protection District and Mokena Police Department, according to a news release.

On Sept. 28, Currie Motors also invited the community to come to the dealership to pick up free disposable face masks as part of Ford PPE Day in Chicago.

Ford PPE Day is part of a national initiative by Ford and its philanthropic arm, the Ford Motor Company Fund, to manufacture and distribute 100 million masks to nonprofits, schools, veterans and other at-risk communities facing shortages of personal protective equipment, according to the release.

Ford already has manufactured more than 72 million pieces of PPE for front-line workers and health care equipment for patients, including more than 45 million face masks, 20 million face shields, 50,000 ventilators, 32,000 respirators and 1.4 million washable isolation gowns, according to the release.

Latif said that if Ford does another distribution of face masks, he wants Currie Motors to participate again.

“It’s just amazing what Ford is doing with the face masks, just handing them out with no questions asked,” Latif said.

For information about the Ford Motor Company Fund, visit fordfund.org.