Becky Vieira, a blogger with a substantial
amount of following in Social
Media platforms, decides to go beyond
local communities to help healthcare workers and doctors with PPE (Personal
Protective Equipment).
This idea to help out came to her mind
after she visited her son’s preschool. She couldn’t sit back after she learned
that parents who are also doctors and nurses involved
in COVID-19 treatments were in dire need of masks and other protective gear.
Starting with Instagram, she requested for donations of PPE from family and friends. Later, she also channeled her requests into her network of mom bloggers who were also moved by the cause. But this is not the end to it. Within a few days, engineers, marketing agencies and designers offer up their services pro bono to this cause. Later, her website overflows with great responses and requests encompassing an International clientele.
Holy freaking hell. A nursing manager at Mt Sinai Hospital in NYC just died from coronavirus. Nurses at the hospital have been wearing trash bags because of the lack of protective gear. https://t.co/DSkHKVECmEpic.twitter.com/gl3w7ksPog
The website goes by the name Masks for Heroes and
it has been an effective initiative since the beginning. Any medical facility
in need of PPE can send their requests through this website which is then
verified before being listed. After this, volunteers deliver these requests
according to drop-off instructions.
The website maintains optimum clarity and transparency for the donors as well. There is a map provided in the website through which donors can keep a track of their donation. They can also detect the need and supply their donations accordingly. More than 200 requests from different medical facilities are listed on the website currently.
Vieira is
not alone in this journey. Many people have stepped up for this cause. Clothing
manufacturer, Kurdistan Godani in Virginia, is using up all her cloth fabrics
to sew up hundreds of masks. She has sewn 300, delivered 100 and plans on
making many more. Other individuals like Adrian Braun Bridal from New Jersey are
also overdoing themselves. Adrian makes more than a hundred masks per day. He
has already donated 550 and has a personal target of 2000 masks. Other donors
include Free people from Urban Outfitters as well.
Anyone with
some time to spare is getting involved with this initiative which is really
generating hope and awareness across the country. There are some debates
regarding the effectiveness of homemade masks and face shields but Vieira
rightly points out that for some healthcare workers this is the only protection
available. Moreover, doctors are wearing single-use masks for a week at a
stretch. At least these washable masks can be used intermittently.
When
lives depend on supplies of PPE, this has truly proved to be effective for the
collective fight against COVID-19.
Vieira is
not alone in this journey. Many people have stepped up for this cause. Clothing
manufacturer, Kurdistan Godani in Virginia, is using up all her cloth fabrics
to sew up hundreds of masks. She has sewn 300, delivered 100 and plans on
making many more. Other individuals like Adrian Braun Bridal from New Jersey are
also overdoing themselves. Adrian makes more than a hundred masks per day. He
has already donated 550 and has a personal target of 2000 masks. Other donors
include Free people from Urban Outfitters as well.
Anyone with
some time to spare is getting involved with this initiative which is really
generating hope and awareness across the country. There are some debates
regarding the effectiveness of homemade masks and face shields but Vieira
rightly points out that for some healthcare workers this is the only protection
available. Moreover, doctors are wearing single-use masks for a week at a
stretch. At least these washable masks can be used intermittently.
When
lives depend on supplies of PPE, this has truly proved to be effective for the
collective fight against COVID-19.
