Dr. Beth Jacobs led a team of students, staff, and faculty to distribute high quality donated face masks to K-12 schools in Arizona with a focus on elementary schools in underserved communities.
As Arizona schools reopened for in-person instruction this fall of 2021, Dr. Beth Jacobs learned that some K-12 schools in Arizona were struggling to find enough face masks and other protective equipment. She decided to take action and reached out to other students and staff at the Zuckerman College of Public Health. Dr. Jacobs started a GoFundMe page (Help With Filters and Masks for Arizona Schools) to raise money. Many generous Arizonans donated, and the team purchased masks and sent them to schools in need.
Then Dr. Jacobs connected with Project N95, a national all-volunteer organization that serves as a clearinghouse for personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests so they can delivers personal protective equipment (PPE ) and tests to individuals and organizations in need. Project N95 donated 11,000 quality masks to help Dr. Jacobs and her team provide for Arizona schools!
To distribute the 11,000 masks, the team held a “mask mailing” event to stuff and mail packages of masks. They prioritized Arizona schools in lower-resource areas, since for many families the cost of quality masks for numerous kids can be a significant burden. They also prioritized elementary schools since children under 12 cannot yet receive the vaccine. COVID-19 cases continue to be a concern in Arizona, especially among children, as the struggle to vaccinate more Arizonans continues.
The team send masks to hundreds of schools!
All of us in the College want to thank Beth and her team of students, staff, and faculty who helped with the “mask mailing” project. Many of the student and staff volunteers work on the CoVHORT research project that is underway to research COVID-19 and the lasting health impacts that can result with study participants in Arizona.
“It has always been our mission to give back to Arizonans, to keep our communities healthy,” says Dr. Jacobs, “It's important to do the research. It's equally important to keep working with our communities.”
Dr. Jacobs expressed her gratitude to for the dedicated volunteers who generously gave their time and talent for the project, including:
- Melanie Bell, PhD
- Kate Bessey (amazing staff member , Epidemiology)
- Kacey Ernst, PhD
- Kelly Heslin (amazing staff member, Epidemiology)
- Connor Kelley (amazing doctoral student, Epidemiology)
- Sana Khan (amazing doctoral student, Epidemiology)
- Lindsay Kohle, PhD
- Karen Lutrick, PhD
- Ali Shilen (amazing staff member and graduate, Epidemiology)
