Catching a Service Gap in a Crisis: We are all in this together
The writing is on the wall
Have you found a moment when a crisis hits, and people are taking it lightly? Sometimes we need to ask ourselves if we should have taken the signs seriously and have been more proactive.
We watched in the news how the coronavirus epidemic began to sweep in Asia in December 2019, then WHO finally declared it a pandemic in March 2020 after the virus had made its global attacks for a while. By the time Canada felt the intense threat of the COVID-19 ravaging all sectors in society, it dawned on us the government’s preparation for protecting our health and safety was actually lacking foresight and insight
COVID-19 is the second pandemic in the 21st century after SARS in 2003, but it’s trickier and is more mercilessly widespread. As of March 2020, lockdown had become a new lifestyle in many Canadian big cities. Quickly masks and other PPE were already in severe shortage. The desperate cries of concern quickly spread among many health care facilities – their frontline workers were at great risk.
In fifteen weeks, our campaign delivered over 560,000 masks to over 137 different health care facilities in Ontario...
Our story started in March 2020
The need for wearing a mask in public was downplayed, and even some health care professionals caught working with a mask on got in trouble, being accused of promoting fear. Plus, there was a severe shortage of masks for frontline workers.
Finally, the public recognized the reality of the raging presence of COVID-19. More concerned citizens started to step up and be a part of a solution to this stubborn crisis. A group of my friends decided to do something to tackle the challenge of PPE shortage, especially masks. After a long meeting, we started a massive mask drive. We launched a mobile-first web site next day to drive donation – Mobilizing Masks for Health Care Providers.
I suppose this was our instinct towards this crisis. Overnight a massive marketing campaign kicked in. In a matter of days, we were able to leverage our relationships and connections to create partnerships with businesses and non-profit organizations. The urgent task was to champion monetary and PPE donations, logistic support for warehousing and transportation, public awareness, and connecting with the health care network across Ontario.
The fruit of collective labour of love
In fifteen weeks, our campaign delivered over 560,000 masks to over 137 different health care facilities in Ontario and the donations were going strong all the way till the time we closed the drive when the situation got better! We are grateful for partnerships with CAA South Central Ontario, 105 Gibson Centre, Lausanne Movement Canada and many volunteers to collect, itemize, screen, sort and distribute the urgently needed protective equipment to hospitals and long-term care facilities.
We have also been fortunate to have volunteer pilots to fly the shipments of PPEs out to Waterloo, Cornwall, Montreal, Kapuskasing, and even to Manitoulin Island! We knew that many rural communities did not have easy access to supplies, and we tried to meet their critical need in a timely fashion.
We have also been fortunate to have volunteer pilots to fly the shipments of PPEs out to Waterloo, Cornwall, Montreal, Kapuskasing, and even to Manitoulin Island! We knew that many rural communities did not have easy access to supplies, and we tried to meet their critical need in a timely fashion.
Mission completed!
This pandemic is a marathon, not a sprint. Our campaign made it past the 4-month mark until PPE supplies to health care facilities have reached a reasonable level thanks to the substantial increase in PPE production and shipments.
This mobilizing mask donation project was to fill the transitional but urgent service gap in public health. Our team saw that we had met our objective in this social mission. In July 2020, a much better scene of the general supply of PPE indicated that it was time for us to officially close our project. We encouraged our donors to support other initiatives for social good.
As our project lead, Dr. Karen Wang, summarized,
"This was a worthwhile cause, and the project made a significant difference to the lives of health care workers all across the province at the time most needed!"
– Dr. Karen Wang
Words from hospital recipients on the project:
Southlake Regional Health Centre:
"PPE is among some of the most vital and required items at our hospital today...
?Not only are you helping protect our staff whoare providing care to those with or suspected to have COVID-19, you are helping to prevent the spread of the virus in hospital and keep other vulnerable patients safe."
Cornwall Community Hospital:
Words can't fully express my elation at your team's engagement of our Hospital Foundation to aid local doctors, nurses and staff. Your efforts for us matter. From sourcing essential items to liaising with us for logistics, to your volunteer pilot's generous journey down to Cornwall, to connecting with our local CAA company, to making this donation a reality – your organization is a shining example of the concept, "We're all in this together".
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (Barrie):
Thank you for the hard-working and big-hearted team behind Mobilizing Masks for making this a possibility – we are so grateful for the work you are doing to secure much-needed PPE.
