Evolent Health, a company supporting the health care needs of more than 375,000 Cook County Medicaid beneficiaries, is donating 10,000 face masks to aid Chicago communities that have been disproportionately impacted by recent surges of COVID-19.

The masks, thousands of which were made for children by Evolent employees, will be distributed at a “Spread Gratitude, Not COVID” event, to be held at 10:30 a.m. CST on Monday, Nov. 9 at the JLM Abundant Life Community Center, 2622 W. Jackson Blvd. Joining Evolent Health and speaking at the event will be representatives from several community and faith-based organizations serving neighborhoods hard hit by the coronavirus. Each organization will receive 1,000 masks to distribute in their community through regular food giveaways and other charitable work.

“What started as a grassroots employee project to gather masks for children blossomed into a company-wide effort resulting in 10,000 total donated masks,” said Naprisha Taylor, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Evolent Health. “Not only was this campaign energizing for our employees—as is evident from the many handsewn masks they made—but it showed how committed they are to promoting a safe holiday season for the youth across Chicago.”

As many parents know, keeping their kids’ faces covered during the pandemic can be a challenge. Masks are easy to lose and they need frequent washing. And children outgrow them.

“It can be difficult to find masks that fit children properly. It is wonderful to have this opportunity to help parents keep their kids and families protected, especially as we are seeing the number of COVID cases climbing again," said Apostle Carl White of the Southland Ministerial Healthcare Network, one of the organizations that will distribute the masks. “Increased and continued mask mandates and poor access to cost-effective masks might make celebrating safely a challenge for some, and we’re glad to relieve them of the added stress.”

Members of the news media are encouraged to attend the event, while observing social distancing. However, to prevent the spread of infection it is not open to the public.

About Evolent Health

Evolent Health (NYSE: EVH) delivers proven clinical and administrative solutions that improve whole-person health while making health care simpler and more affordable. Our solutions encompass total cost of care management, specialty care management, and administrative simplification. Evolent serves a national base of leading payers and providers, is the first company to receive the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Population Health Program Accreditation, and is consistently recognized as a top place to work in health care nationally. Learn more about how Evolent is changing the way health care is delivered by visiting evolenthealth.com.