Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is putting her masks where her mouth is, so to speak, in rolling out a new component of the Mask Up Michigan effort.

The state, conjunction with several other entities, will provide up to 4 million face masks to Michigan residents who want and need them.

Low-income residents, seniors, schools and homeless shelters will benefit from the MI Mask Aid partnership, which is part of the Mask Up Michigan campaign.

Michigan is partnering with the Ford Motor Co., the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a state press release.

“Michigan needs to continue to ‘mask up’ to protect us all from COVID-19,” Whitmer said in a prepared statement. “Vulnerable populations may have difficulties buying masks and our schools need face coverings to keep students, staff and community members safe.”

The free masks include 1.5 million from FEMA that the state has already sent to organizations, which include local community action agencies serving low-income residents, MDHHS offices, area agencies on aging, homeless shelters and Native American tribes.

Another 1 million face coverings from FEMA and 1.5 million from Ford will go to low-income schools, the city of Detroit, federally qualified health centers, some COVID-19 testing sites and to many of the organizations listed above to reach vulnerable populations, including minority residents who have been affected by the public health crisis as a result of racism.

This is a great idea that, it could be argued, probably should have already been implemented.

Want a free mask? Call the COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136 or look up your local Community Action Agency online.