There’s no shortage of grim news stories stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most often heard and distressing accounts comes from healthcare workers who are concerned about lacking the supplies they need to perform their jobs and care for patients while at the same time protecting themselves to the fullest extent possible.

With that in mind, High School District 214 has taken yet another step to address the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by donating to Northwest Community Healthcare its supply of PPE and hand soap.

The donated PPE, which was inventoried, boxed and prepared for delivery last week, includes 340 N95 masks, 800 non-N95 masks, 1,014 hospital masks, 380 gowns, more than 2,000 boxes of gloves and 16 cases of soap, said Cathy Johnson, associate superintendent for finance and operations.

Johnson explains that District 214 was aware that some of its supplies - used primarily in healthcare classrooms and by athletic trainers, nurses offices and maintenance departments - might be needed in the community. 

 “We learned that Northwest Community Healthcare was in need of supplies and, being in our own District, made the decision to connect with them to offer support in our own small way,” Johnson said.

In addition to this donation to healthcare workers in our community, District 214 Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers are gearing up - in partnership with Harper College - for production of PPE face shields.  Buffalo Grove High School students are working in partnership with JoAnn Fabrics to cut, sew, assemble and distribute face masks.

Even though these efforts are in their early stages, requests for the finished products already have been high, which further illustrates the importance of communities pulling together and contributing in any way possible. Other school districts throughout the region and across the country are engaged in similar efforts. More undoubtedly will see these examples and join as we all work in partnership to emerge from the pandemic as safely as possible.