CANTON – A mother and daughter are teaming up to make and donate 148 face masks to Canton’s elderly and disabled residents.

Shannon Putnam, a tenant at Canton Housing Authority, and her mother, Doreen Worthley, are giving free masks to all the seniors and disabled at the two high-rises on Riverside Drive and senior building on Law Lane, Canton.

“My father-in-law lives in one of these buildings. I wanted the elderly to have the protective covering for their faces to keep them safe,” Putnam said, noting the elderly are more vulnerable to the virus.

Amanda St. Marie, Canton Housing Authority Executive Director, said she offered to pay for the fabric, but Putnam and her mother would take nothing.

“They just wanted to help the disabled and elderly tenants in the Canton Housing Authority.”

Putnam said she cut the fabric pieces and did some of the sewing, but her mother did the majority of the sewing. Her mother now lives in Bridgeport.

Putnam found time to make the masks, along with working a full-time job at the 7-Eleven, parenting, and now also home schooling with the pandemic.

“What Shannon and her mother have done is so generous. We can’t thank them enough. There are angels among us. This is proof,” said St. Marie.

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