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Washington National Cathedral donates 5,000 medical masks found underground

The Washington National Cathedral donated thousands of medical masks to two hospitals in the nation’s capital after discovering a trove of the much-needed protective equipment just feet from where Helen Keller and other prominent Americans lie in the cathedral’s underground crypts.

Bought in 2006 as a precaution during an outbreak of the H5N1 flu, the 5,000 plus N95 respiratory masks had been forgotten until early this month, when the cathedral’s chief stonemason, Joseph Alonso, remembered coming across them in an unfinished area of the crypt level.