As the coronavirus pandemic cleared the one-year mark, anecdotes about personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages have been less prevalent, but those shortages are still affecting frontline workers and other essential workers. That’s why the Georgia Center for Nonprofits partnered with Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC), MedShare and Atlanta ToolBank to establish a PPE Bank for nonprofits to fill those organizations’ needs for PPE free of charge.
“We saw that nonprofits across the state were struggling initially with PPE shortages and then resources to afford continuous PPE purchases,” said Karen Beavor, the president and CEO of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. “Having protective equipment – masks, gloves, sanitizer, thermometers – during this crisis is critical to keeping nonprofits open and services flowing. We decided that, just like a food bank, nonprofits needed a PPE bank to supply nonprofit staff providing these services and to direct resources to missions rather than PPE purchases.”
Companies like Home Depot, UPS, General Auto Parts and others donated PPE supplies to the bank, and MedShare, Friends of Disabled Adults and Children and Atlanta ToolBank stored and distributed the donations to community nonprofits throughout the state.
“In the depth of the pandemic, nonprofits and healthcare were experiencing an intense shortage and this impacted the safety of staff and overall availability of services – food, healthcare, etc.,” said Beavor. “Now, so many nonprofits simply struggle to afford PPE and it is still critical in all the same ways.”
The PPE bank has supplied PPE to nonprofits such as free health centers, food banks, homeless shelters, eldercare, disability facilities and some schools across Georgia.
Who’s helping?
Georgia Center for Nonprofits, Friends of Disabled Adults and Children, MedShare and Atlanta ToolBank
Services: These nonprofits have partnered to create a PPE bank for other nonprofits and organizations working to help folks during the coronavirus pandemic.
Where supplies have gone: PPE has gone to nonprofits such as free health centers, food banks, homeless shelters, eldercare, disability facilities and some schools across Georgia.
How to help: Partners of the PPE bank need funds to pay for gas for the trucking and the people organizing the donation distribution. Additionally if there are companies that have larger quantities of PPE that they would like to donate, they can get it out to agencies in need.
Where to donate: visit www.gagives.org/story/Georgianonprofitppebankn39sxe to donate funds. Companies who are able to donate bulk PPE quantities can contact MedShare’s Jason Chernock at jchernock@medshare.org.
If you are involved in or know of an organization working to bring relief to the Atlanta community during the coronavirus pandemic OR you are with an organization with supplies that you don’t know where to donate, please email us at Shannon.n.Dominy@gmail.com.
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