US skier and family donate 3,000 masks during COVID-19 pandemic

Ainsley Proffit and her parents made more than 3,000 masks to fight COVID-19 ©Ainsley Proffit

American skier Ainsley Proffit has donated, along with her family, 3,000 facemasks they made to the local community in St Louis in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

A member of the United States Alpine Ski Team development programme, Proffit posted an image of the masks on her Instagram page and has said they will be distributed to those who request them.

So far this includes Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St Louis, the Chicago Police Department, emergency medics in Seattle and paediatric doctors and patients.

Proffit's family owns a small children's clothing company and her mother came up with the idea of producing the masks.

View this post on Instagram

3,000 MASKS DONATED!! • Since the ski season came to a massive halt, my family and I have started sewing face masks for the community. I’m beyond proud to say we have donated 3,000 homemade masks, as well as giving bolts of fabric to other people in the community, so they can sew their own. • It is imperative that everyone does their part in social distancing, and when you do go out in public wear a face mask! It doesn’t just help protect you, it helps protect the essential workers that risk getting infected everyday they go to their job. • STAY SAFE!! Keep the good vibes going?❤️
A post shared by Ainsley Proffit (@ainsley_proffit) on Apr 7, 2020 at 2:26pm PDT

"When she started hearing about the shortages all around, she knew we had to step in," Proffit said.

"Together, my mom, dad, and I transitioned the clothing business into mask-making instead - we are cutting and sewing all masks here in St Louis."

The production of masks continues, with the family planning to keep going until the outbreak has subsided.

Under normal circumstances Proffit's ski season would just be concluding now, but all activities were stopped in March due to the spread of coronavirus.

There have been more than 710,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US - more than any other country - resulting in the deaths of more than 37,100 people.