Prudential Financial came to the aid of the state’s health care workers in a big way Sunday, when it made a donation of 153,000 face masks, including 73,000 with N95 respirators, as well as 300 bottles of hand sanitizer.
The items, which the company had stockpiled for emergency preparations following 9/11, will be a huge help.
Gov. Phil Murphy — who has repeatedly saluted companies for fulfilling such corporate social responsibility — hopes others will follow Prudential’s lead.
The state, in fact, has set up an email where companies and private individuals can donate supplies, particularly those that fall under the category of PPEs, or personal protection equipment.
If you’re looking to help, please send an email to PPEdonations@njsp.org.
“We’ve got a lot of folks that are coming up with good ideas and places to buy PPEs, but we could use as many donations as possible,” Murphy said during his daily briefing Monday. He then saluted Home Depot and Goldman Sachs, among others.
Murphy then cited BD, Novo Nordisk, Ascensia Diabetes Care, Liss Pharmacy and Inserra Supermarkets as those helping the Diabetes Foundation be able to offer a free backup emergency kit to those who have diabetes. (To get one, go to diabetesfoundationinc.org or call 973-849-5234. Read more about the foundation here.)
Murphy — and State Police Superintendent Col. Pat Callahan — said the state can act quickly on donations.
Callahan, in fact, said some of Prudential’s Sunday morning donation was delivered to University Hospital in Newark by Sunday night.
“This is about health care, keeping the hospitals open,” Callahan said. “First responders are a close second, but I think it’s for our doctors and nurses and those folks in the hospitals. We’ve got to make sure they’re protected.”
Callahan said Monday that he is in the process of drafting a letter to all of the state’s more than 600 school districts, asking them to check their supplies. Many, he said, had purchased PPE after the Ebola crisis.
“We’re not asking for it all, but (we know) that PPE that they purchased in the wake of Ebola is sitting there. This is (an) all-hands-on-deck, pull-out-all-the-stops (moment),” he said.
“I would think every school district in the state wants to pitch in.”
Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey said the company — long a leader in philanthropy — wanted to do its share.
“While the pandemic has become a global crisis, the fight against it is taking place locally and will be won at the community level,” Lowrey said in a statement. “Our cities, towns and neighborhoods have always been there for us, in good times and bad. Their health, well-being and prosperity are vital to our future. We will not let them down in this hour of need.”
If you have any PPEs, please email the State Police at PPEdonations@njsp.org.
