State officials are accepting donations of personal protective equipment, or PPE, such as masks and gloves, to be distributed to healthcare workers across the state. Mike Moon is the associate director at UServeUtah, the state agency that is organizing the effort.
“We’re the lead agency for volunteers and donations," Moon said.
Moon said the program is on track to be a success.
“It’s been really inspiring, honestly, to see you know when people donate PPE in quantities of twenty or thirty that they have in their garage how it really adds up. We’ve received to date, just under 30,000 N95 masks in donations, just under 18,000 surgical masks. Isolation gowns, surgical gowns, over 1,200 tyvek suits, over 2,000 face shields, over 82,000 examination gloves," Moon said.
There are eight donation sites across the state.
“All of our sites engage a drive-up donation collection, Moon said.
Donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated.
"Our state is so resilient and industrious as a result of each individual person. And to the extent that each person can look and see what they might have around, whether that be a financial donation or a supply donation, every donation, while you may think it is so small, is making such a big difference in keeping our healthcare workers safe in this pandemic," Moon said.
In addition to packaged PPE, UServeUtah is now accepting homemade masks. Instructions on how to make those masks, lists of needed PPE, and how to donate are available at userve.utah.gov.
