FRESH
During late Spring, migrant farm laborers began falling ill as they went from site to site to pick crops. We found four states where summer migrant workers were being affected by COVID and they lacked masks to do grueling outdoor labor and sanitizing wipes to keep their congested living quarters clean. We purchased and donated 250 KN95 masks and 150 alcohol wipes packages to each location. Hannah & Caleb, during their cross-country roadtrip, stopped in and donated 750 masks from Costco, hand sanitizer bottles and infrared thermometers to use for temperature checks to Idaho farm laborers.
Helmet Ventilators & Viral Filters
In July, cases exploded in the Rio Grande Valley. We had a small surplus of unused helmet based ventilators and viral filters. After establishing contacts in Harlingen, we shipped and then hand-delivered 30 Amron Helmet Ventilators with 30 viral filters to 2 hospitals.
Help The Valley
After seeing the conditions on the ground in the Rio Grande Valley, had a discussion with 4th year medical student and US Army 2LT Bose and his fiancée to create a fundraiser. Through their efforts on Facebook, $7500 was raised and using Honest PPE Supply we bought and delivered 870 gowns and 870 wipe packages to 3 hospitals in the Valley.
Drive Through Testing
We built a team of medical student volunteers to create a database of known drive through COVID-19 testing sites throughout the US. This database was incorporated by Coders Against COVID into their interactive testing map findcovidtesting.com.
Masks for communities
After treating COVID cases day in and day out, we recognized that not just hospitals needed PPE–the shortage of supplies was being felt in all walks of life. Using Deaconess’ (Indiana) webpage we found many organizations had listed their needs. At the time, N95s were not available, but Breathe Pure was selling 3-ply surgical masks. So, we picked 9 locations across the country, in a variety of fields and sent them each 50 surgical masks.
Viral Filters for Ventilators
As the virus continued to spread, we saw a rising tide of cases in rural meatpacking/industrial plant areas. Our hospital had a small surplus of viral filters. Based on news reports, we selected and distributed 10 viral filters to 13 hospitals to use during intubation/respiratory procedures. These were doonated in memory of our Rabaut Dorval. Rabaut was a respiratory therapist that died in April 2020.
Migrant Asylum Seekers
Across the border in Matamoros, there are migrants living in a large sprawling camp. The folks we knew on the ground stated they need masks and hand sanitizer. Using Honest PPE Supply we bought and delivered 200 KN95 masks and 200 bottles of hand sanitizer gel. We also dropped off 200 hand sewn masks donated by Howard County General ER, a large box of Briotech cleaning supplies donated by Briotech, and 10 face shields for the immigration lawyers to use.
Hayneville, Alabama
After reading an article describing the plight of Hayneville, AL, we reached out to Dr. Izzy Mehr, a colleague from IMANA. He helped arrange for 6000 KN95 masks and other PPE donated to Mr. Gilbert Darrington to help take care of the town’s residents.