And now three years into the COVID 19 Pandemic

Support Mask Oakland today!

Give unhoused and disabled people emergency protection from toxic wildfire smoke.

Mask Oakland has given out hundreds of thousands of smoke-filtering masks during fire seasons since 2017. Help us keep going.

Our work has been featured in KQED, SF Chronicle, Washington Post and more.

These masks protect against smoke and COVID.

Dixie Fire, Caldor Fire and many other wildfires each season send smoke into the Bay Area. “Stay inside” authorities will say. But the Bay Area has thousands of people forced to live or work outside. And we need to be ready.

Your support right now will also help us build our local supply *and* get masks and expand our wildfire activism to communities in the Sierras, closer to the site of many fires – where smoke often reaches hazardous levels, shutting down schools and airports. We help our neighbors.

We organize volunteers to distribute masks on the street, as well as to other organizations that do regular street outreach work. Mask Oakland finds the best prices, buys in large quantities, and sometimes we even get huge numbers of masks donated, so we save the larger activist community time and money. And then we give it to organizations and individuals in need for free.

Donations are fully tax-deductible. Mask Oakland is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Good Fund, a California nonprofit corporation and registered 501(c)(3) organization, Tax ID (EIN) 46-1323531. Your receipt and card statement will say “Social Good Fund.”

More on our work during fire seasons 2017-22

A person in a jean jacket, pink pants, and a black respirator mask hands out white n95 masks with yellow straps to 3 black men in front of bicycles and a chain link fence.

Why Mask Oakland Matters

We handed out masks to houseless folks and other vulnerable communities stuck in toxic fire smoke in 2017, 2018, and 2019 providing air quality and health education along the way, across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Smoke-filtering masks:
😷 prevent damage to hearts and lungs by blocking toxic particulates
😷 help people breathe more easily
😷 give tangible relief from headaches, wheezing, dizziness, inflammation
😷 are gifts that say “you are not forgotten

We ensure all masks we distribute during the pandemic also protect against COVID-19 (ie no valve – which would leave those around the wearer vulnerable)

Truly helping people helps us all

MASK OAKLAND

In the 2018 Camp Fire, we provided more masks than all Bay Area governments combined. In 2019, we helped thousands before any agency response. So we are developing a long-term strategy for disaster relief and policy change. You can help us.

We use social media to reach huge audiences during crisis; we now seek long-term supporters

Attention always drops off until a disaster hits the news, but we must prepare now. Our community is standing-by. Please help keep us safe!

Questions? Contact Us