Recent years have taught us that medical personal protective equipment (PPE), or the masks, gowns, gloves, etc. that keep front line workers and patients safe, are indispensable.
In March 2023, Alliance Health & Human Services (AHHS), which owns, operates, and manages several skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities in Massachusetts, encountered a large amount of surplus PPE items. The items, which included hospital gowns, nitrile gloves, and N95 masks, were occupying much-needed space at their facility.
RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts (RecyclingWorks) had previously assisted AHHS with donating 5,000 sets of hospital scrubs. Recalling that positive collaboration, AHHS reached out to RecyclingWorks for assistance identifying a new home for the numerous PPE supplies.
After researching potential solutions, RecyclingWorks connected AHHS with a coordinator at the New Haven Ukrainian American Humanitarian Aid Fund. With 100% volunteer efforts, this organization ships critical items, such as medical supplies, to hospitals in Ukraine monthly. The surplus PPE items offered by AHHS aligned with the requests of these hospitals.
The following items were donated:
- 10,100 washable gowns
- 36,000 pairs of nitrile gloves
- 1,440 N95 face masks
To prepare for the donation pickup, AHHS staged the supplies on the loading dock of their second-floor office. Volunteers from the Ukraine relief organization loaded the items into a truck. The gowns, gloves, and masks were then incorporated into the organization’s next overseas shipment, which are sent in 40-foot shipping containers. Through teamwork and coordination, thousands of PPE items were directed to individuals in serious need.
Martha Donoghue, Administrative Coordinator at AHHS, stated her appreciation: “I spent weeks calling local Massachusetts charitable organizations to donate our PPE to no avail. We are very appreciative of RecyclingWorks in helping us to locate organizations to donate unused PPE who desperately need medical supplies in other parts of the world. We are so happy to have found this resource and make it all work. Otherwise thousands of medical supplies and their dollar value would have been put in the trash.”
With vast connections and knowledge in the reuse, donation, and recycling sectors, RecyclingWorks can help your business or institution arrive at impactful solutions. If your facility needs assistance with surplus materials, contact us at Info@RecyclingWorksMA.com or 888-254-5525.