Maritza De Armas/Staff Writer
The coronavirus has caused shortages in food, toilet paper and personal protective equipment, which healthcare workers are in desperate need of as they battle the virus at the frontlines.
Recent FIU graduate Amanda Pina, along with some members of the community, have made it their mission to help decrease this shortage.
“As a future healthcare professional I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing knowing that our doctors and nurses were risking their lives every single moment of the day,” Pina said.
Pina has made it her mission to provide healthcare workers with the supplies and equipment they desperately need in their frontline battles against the coronavirus.
“It didn’t sit well with me that doctors, nurses and first responders were losing their lives and in fear of doing their job just because they didn’t have the proper equipment due to the shortages of personal protective equipment. Therefore, I decided to take initiative and do something about it,” said Pina.
Pina created Shield America Now, an initiative of Project K.I.T.E which is a nonprofit organization that provides the resources for youth in different demographics. Shield America Now was created in response to the PPE shortage for healthcare workers. Their mission is to protect those protecting us by donating as many face shields as possible throughout our local community.
Pina serves as the Initiative Director of Shield America Now, overlooking the entire program. She is in constant contact with volunteer leaders, who have their own volunteer teams, looks for sponsorships, donations and organizations in need, and works on raising awareness of this shortage and finding donors for face shields within the community.
One thing that serves as a big difficulty for the organization is finding funding for face shields.
“We have been trying to reach every single business, corporation, company, etc. with the opportunity to donate and have only received one donation thus far. However, I am hopeful that as more people are aware of our story and what we are doing they would be more willing to donate,” said Pina.
Pina and the volunteers at Shield America Now have already made an impact among healthcare workers.
“After our first donation, the first thing the doctor said was that she was so proud to be a doctor and know that there are people like us who are willing to help,” Pina said. “She also mentioned how the masks were so comfortable, which is saddening to think that they were uncomfortable before when they were trying to save lives.”
After the pandemic gets under control, Shield America Now plans to continue providing personal protective equipment not just within the community but also to developing countries that do not have enough access to equipment.
Pina had recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and natural and applied sciences with a minor in psychology. She plans on attending medical school to become a doctor and hopes that this initiative will inspire future healthcare workers to create similar efforts to help out those who risk their lives for our wellbeing.
“I hope that if this is ever to happen again someone would do the same for me as a doctor,” said Pina.
For more information about Shield America Now and their efforts to assist healthcare workers, you can visit their website or follow @shieldamerica on Instagram.
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