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Bar Harbor mailboxes improve public health with free masks

With a $100,000 'Keep Maine Healthy' grant, the town of Bar Harbor has purchased about 100,000 masks to protect against COVID-19. They are free to the public.

BAR HARBOR, Maine — If you visit Bar Harbor this season, you may notice some large mailboxes in crowded areas. These are not meant for sending letters – instead, they’re designed to help improve public health.

Earlier this year, Bar Harbor and other towns on Mount Desert Island banded together and each applied for the 'Keep Maine Healthy' grant program. Bar Harbor received more than $100,000 from the state in federal funding and has used that money to purchase almost 100,000 masks that are now free to the public.

The six large mailboxes scattered around town, installed in early July, act as distribution boxes for these free masks. Alf Anderson, executive director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, says the town gives away between 1,000 and 1,200 masks on most days – and mask wearing has apparently increased to almost 100 percent.

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Anderson says when the pandemic began, people weren’t necessarily complying with mask requirements, but through June, July, and August, the rate has improved. He says almost everyone visiting downtown Bar Harbor, hiking trails in Acadia National Park, or shopping indoors wears a mask when needed.

“The business community has gone above and beyond to keep folks safe – making sure that they have a mask and know where they can get a free mask, if they need one,” Anderson told NEWS CENTER Maine. “It’s just been a really great community-wide effort to keep employees, visitors, and local residents safe.”

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Anderson says the town was considering installing more boxes around town, but so many people were taking masks from the established locations that his team decided to just focus on getting more masks for those boxes.

Tourism rates have reportedly pick up, too – Anderson says though April, May, and June were “disasters”, businesses have been doing pretty close to what they did last year at this time in July and August. What the fall may look like, however, is still unclear.

If people take the free masks, they are asked to use the hand sanitizer attached to the mailbox before reaching in to grab one. There should be a trash barrel next to the box to throw away individual plastic wrapping and old masks.

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