As essential workers continue to brave the outside world and their places of work, many of them have been unable to access masks and other personal protection equipment — especially those in the medical field.

According to ParentSquare, the Oak Park Unified School District responded to the Health Care Foundation For Ventura County’s request for PPE. The district had some masks from the fires of the past two years and decided to donate them to the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services. OPUSD ended up donating 2,250 clear 1.5 mil trash bags, 475 pairs of disposable gloves and over 3,000 N95 masks. 

“At the outset of the pandemic, we had heard reports of PPE being scarce for medical workers, so as we were thinking about this, a call from Ventura County Public Health came for PPE,” Director of Curriculum and Instruction Jay Greenlinger said. “Since we knew where all of the masks were stored at each site, we were able to round them up in little time.”

Director of Bond Program, Sustainability, Maintenance and Operations Brendan Callahan, Director of Student Support and School Safety Stew McGugan and the district’s custodial staff and maintenance crew worked to gather and deliver the PPE.

The district saw how their small gesture could make a bigger impact for healthcare workers who continue to need more and more supplies as COVID-19 cases increase.

“They were so pleased and thankful for the masks and even more thankful that we drove them down to the Ventura County center instead of asking them to come to our schools,” McGugan said. “I think the first responders were happy to see how much the public wanted to help them more than anything. We know how much they are doing for us and it was a small gesture.”