MARBLEHEAD, Mass., March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Further bolstering its heroic response in the national emergency to combat COVID-19, the Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs & Leaders (SONSIEL) today announced a partnership with the GLO Good Foundation in order to power-up donation and distribution of desperately needed personal protective equipment (PPE) to the nation's frontline. The collaboration is a next-level milestone in a series of strategic steps to ensure swift and optimal help to healthcare workers battling COVID-19. The overarching goal of the partnership is to help further close the gap in the time it takes to get crucially needed PPE to the frontlines while awaiting resumption of traditional supply chains, so that no one on the front lines of care is without proper protection. Benefits of the SONSIEL-GLO Good Foundation combination include access to an established FDA-certified source of respirator masks as well as 501c3 tax-exempt status for donors.
SONSIEL first issued an urgent, grassroots call-to-action March 17, 2020 with the SHARE (Strengthen Healthcare Ability to Respond to Emergencies) program. In a matter of days, tens of thousands of pieces of protective gear were collected and brought to frontline locations in nearly a dozen states. A March 20, 2020 ABC News Nightline episode featured SONSIEL SHARE program activity, with SONSIEL President & Co-Founder Rebecca C. Love, MSN, RN, and GLO Good Foundation Co-Founder Dr. Jonathan B. Levine. With an ensuing onslaught of incoming requests for PPE, SONSIEL established a direct-sourcing GoFundMe campaign March 22, 2020 to assist the already-burgeoning community-driven PPE donations. Again, in mere days, donations have poured in to support critical PPE fulfillment requests.
While we hear millions of PPE units are being provided to hospitals in hot spots all around the country, millions more are needed to sufficiently protect U.S. frontline healthcare workers. Respirator masks remain the single most-essential PPE item, yet global demand has created an international supply shortage. The SHARE program has an existing, qualified source for approved respirator masks through a certified supplier that has long-standing relationships with healthcare integrated delivery networks and group purchasing organizations nationwide. In addition, the SHARE program, a partnership of SONSIEL and the GLO Good Foundation, an approved 501c3 charity, provides tax-exempt status for contributions.
The partners have pooled GoFundMe donations to benefit additional hospital and healthcare facilities around the U.S. An initial value of $42,000 in donations has been earmarked to send approximately 1,500 respirator masks, each, to eight and 750, each, to four hard-hit hospitals in New York, New Jersey, and Michigan. As more donations arrive, more PPE will be purchased and distributed.
Remarked Dr. Jonathan B. Levine, GLO Good Foundation President & Co-Founder, "We want to rally the country to get behind these healthcare heroes. Our best people are crying out for help on a minute-by-minute basis. The SONSIEL and GLO Good Foundation partnership combines the two organizations' resources, networks, and qualifications, mobilizing an even more powerful force for good in service to the medical community. We must quickly activate all modes and methods of acquiring and moving appropriate and qualified PPE. We have ready access to approved PPE products. And the GLO Good Foundation is an IRS-approved 501c3 public charity. We're honored to partner with SONSIEL in this once-in-a-lifetime American effort."
Lenny Kravitz, a partner in GLO Good Foundation missions in the Bahamas, said, "Please join me in supporting GLO Good Foundation in this partnership effort. The shortage of the proper protective gear threatens the well-being of all the workers on the frontlines and it is our duty to help protect them."
Rebecca C. Love, MSN, RN, SONSIEL President & Co-Founder, stated, "With a hard-working infantry of volunteers, we've been blessed to move masks, shields, gowns, gloves, scrubs, hazmat suits, even shoes, disinfectant, and sanitizer to troops of healthcare workers all around the nation. Our primary focus remains putting respirator masks and other physical barriers quickly into the hands of frontline healthcare workers, to give our nurses and physicians a fighting chance. By combining forces with the GLO Good Foundation, we're able to move more PPE to the frontlines and every donation is 100% tax deductible." Ms. Love continued, "We're working through the right channels to get the right equipment to people where it is needed. We cannot stop until we know we've done everything possible. As long as lives are lost in the fight against this virus, we will keep seeking and implementing solutions."
To contribute to the SONSIEL-GLO Good Foundation effort, please visit the Charity GoFundMe page at https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/sonsielxglogood. For more information on SONSIEL SHARE, please visit https://sonsiel.org/coronavirus.
ABOUT SONSIEL
SONSIEL is a national and international platform for nurses, to engage and advocate for nursing's role in influencing and directly impacting health and the healthcare ecosystem through innovation and entrepreneurship. Nurses are on the front lines, working with all healthcare team members to keep patients and the community safe. For more information about SONSIEL, please visit https://sonsiel.org/. Follow SONSIEL on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SONSIEL2 (@SONSIEL2); Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Sonsielnurse/ (@SONSIELnurse); and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sonsielnurse/ (@SONSIELNURSE).
ABOUT THE GLO GOOD FOUNDATION
The GLO Good Foundation brings oral health treatment, education, tools, and basic medical screening to adults and children. GLO Good sends fully equipped teams of dental professionals to communities in need, recently completing missions in Rwanda, the United States, and the Bahamas. For more information about the GLO Good Foundation, visit https://www.glogoodfoundation.org/. Follow the GLO Good Foundation on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GLO_Science (@GLO_Science); Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/glogoodfoundation (@GLOGoodFoundation); and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/glogoodfoundation/ (@GLOGoodFoundation).
SOURCE SONSIEL
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