People & Lifestyle

Lecrae Goes To Prisons with 70,000 Masks

Published

8 months ago

July 12, 2020

Ameyaw Debrah

Pastor Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church and Lecrae

As part of his continued commitment to community and economic restoration, two-time Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist, Lecrae, is partnered on several major projects and business partnerships all connected under the theme of restoration. On June 1^st, Lecrae announced his partnership with Live Free USA’s Masks For The People initiative to supply 70,000 masks to incarcerated people, essential workers, protesters, and the most vulnerable residents beginning in the Atlanta Metro area.

Lecrae and the Reach Records family will join Live Free USA and Billy M. Honor, Director of the New Georgia Project’s “Loose The Chains” program in delivering the first batch of masks and sanitizers to Fulton County Jail (901 Rice Street NW, Atlanta GA) on Friday, July 10^th at 1pm. The institution will be the first to receive the allotment of masks and personal protective equipment (PPE). A special amount of the PPE will be set aside for families of the incarcerated when visitation restrictions are lifted. Remaining hand sanitizers will be distributed to protesters, the homeless, and other directly impacted communities.

Live Free USA’s Masks For the People’s initiative is a humanitarian campaign launched by Pastor Mike McBride, Director of the Live Free USA & Director of Urban Strategies for Faith In Action and comedian W. Kamau Bell, created to service the disproportionate number of people in underserved minority communities infected with COVID-19. The initiative provides and distributes FDA approved masks to disenfranchised communities including existing and newly incarcerated individuals, essential workers, and minority communities increasing their access to free lifesaving PPE, and preventive care.

“When we launched this partnership with June 1st, Lecrae and Masks For the People forged a mission synergy which has literally been life giving. His message of restoration was a perfect fit as we targeted jails and prisons across the country in need of masks and sanitizer,” shares Pastor Mike. “Collectively we raised almost $50,000 which provided tens of thousands of masks and sanitizer to currently and formerly incarcerated loved ones.”

The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 54,000 state prisoners. It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 10,500 employees. According to The Georgia Department of Corrections’ website, to date, at least 721 Georgia prisoners and 241 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Georgia Dept of Health’s most recent daily status report, the state is reporting a total of 97,064 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 11,919 people hospitalized, and nearly 2,878 deaths as of July 4^th.

At the onset of Covid-10, Lecrae helped to fund and place portable handwashing around the Atlanta Metro area for homeless and displaced people to clean their hands in response to Coronavirus (Covid-19). “Bringing restoration to displaced and forgotten has always been a part of my DNA. It was an honor to join Terence Lester and my good friends at Love Beyond Walls as we kicked off the ‘Love Sinks In’ campaign! Together we distributed 15 portable handwashing basins for the homeless and displaced in the Atlanta Metro Area. I’m proud to share that now there are over 50 sinks throughout Atlanta and the campaign has expanded to over 20 cities across the nation,” expressed Lecrae.

“When my album Anomaly came out, it was released independently on my label, Reach Records, and went to #1. My first show was at Rikers Island in New York. This partnership with Mask For the People is faith in action, a vital extension of restoration, and yet another opportunity to be able to serve our fam on the inside who have been overlooked. In order to begin restoration or rehabilitation first you have to show that you care. This is my way of saying I care about you, I see you, and want to see you healthy and whole. A two-year sentence shouldn’t become a death sentence. Regardless of their circumstances, how ugly it is, this is not the end!”

Reach Records receives the first batch of PPE at Atlanta’s Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church <a