To help support medics during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Masks for Medics, a non-profit initiative based in Cape Town, South Africa, has re-launched its crowdfunding campaign to supply non-hospital-based front-line healthcare workers with medical-grade personal protective equipment (PPE).
Pictured above: “We still need to be caring for the carer by providing much need PPE especially during this third wave,” Dr Julie Etellin, one of the founding doctors of Masks For Medics
Masks for Medics was launched by a group of caring family doctors in May 2020, with the profound understanding that in order for individuals, families and communities to be kept safe during the pandemic, it is imperative that our courageous healthcare workers on the front line have the necessary resources to keep themselves safe.
Picture above: Keeping the nurses at Badisa safe.
Generous public support
Over the last 11 months, with tremendous support from generous donors both locally and internationally, as well as over R605 000 raised through their crowdfunding campaign on BackaBuddy, Masks for Medics has supported frontline workers by:
- Distributing PPE to 212 individuals and 386 institutions including 29 102 gowns, 345 080 aprons, 251 535 surgical masks, 29 248 respirator masks, 10 484 visors, 11 286 gloves, 18 792 sanitiser bottles, 401 pulse oximetry monitors and 478 thermometers – all medical grade.
- They have also provided 261 sanitiser foot pedals and 328 Perspex screen dividers to allow elderly care facilities to continue allowing visitors and to keep administrative staff safe.
Picture: Cooks and staff at over 550 feeding scheme locations in the Western Cape now have PPE!
Protecting carers in the third wave
With the increase of COVID-19 cases in this third wave with a new variant, Masks for Medics, aims to broaden their beneficiary base within the Western Cape province to include homeless shelters and more feeding schemes with a continued focus on Elderly Care Facilities and individual Healthcare Workers, ensuring that those who are frontline carers receive medically certified PPE. This will not only keep them safe but also the children, the elderly and the sick in our communities.
Pictured above: Masks for Medics Directors – Dr Lauren Lee, Dr Sonia Hough, Dr Julie Etellin
“We call on those who can, to please donate generously and assist us in fulfilling our mandate of keeping our Frontline Workers safe! Please support our BackaBuddy campaign and help grow our emergency relief fund. This will directly impact us all and help Masks for Medics in caring for the carers,” says Dr Julie Etellin, one of the founding doctors of Masks for Medics.
Support Masks For Medics on BackaBuddy:
Alternatively donate Via Snapscan:
https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/masks-for-medics
All donors to this campaign are eligible to receive a Section 18a Tax Certificate upon request.
Picture above:Thank you Masks For Medics!
About Masks for Medics
Drs Lauren Lee, Sonia Hough and Julie Etellin are 3 family doctors who banded together during a unique time in history. After witnessing the chaos the pandemic had on the entire world, Masks for Medics needed to act swiftly and be prepared to keep our healthcare workers safe. The prediction filtering in from Europe was for overwhelming numbers of sick people and they knew we needed to urgently collaborate on ideas to protect our frontline so they can better serve patients within their communities. Thus, the emergency campaign called Masks for Medics was launched. The initiative strives to procure and provide the necessary PPE to all our heroes on the frontline. The medical grade PPE we procure includes gowns, aprons, surgical masks, respirator masks, visors, gloves, sanitiser, pulse oximetry monitors and thermometers.
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