10,000 masks on the way for city’s first responders
A citywide effort to gather equipment to protect those on the front lines of Houston’s coronavirus fight gained an additional 10,000 masks Saturday in a donation from the International Management District.
The materials will be contributed to a Minute Maid Park supply drive Wednesday, part of an effort of the Astros Foundation, Project C.U.R.E. and Cheniere Energy to gather COVID-19 personal protective gear for Houston’s first responders, from medical personnel to municipal workers.
Volunteers will unload unopened packages of surgical masks, gloves, gowns, protective coveralls, shoe covers and hand sanitizer with at least 70 percent alcohol from donors’ cars. Cheniere also will match cash donations up to $50,000.
International Management District chairman Wea Lee, CEO of Southern News Group, said the donation was part of a community effort to “do the best for our nation.” He was joined by brother Steven Lee, a real estate developer, and U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston.
Green’s office helped facilitate a donation of 8,000 N95 masks to the city of Houston two weeks ago and has since facilitated comparable acts of charity between, for instance, a dentist with masks and Fort Bend County personnel. At the press event, Green wore a mask he had fashioned from a black towel he had at home.
“We all have a role to play,” he said afterward. “I’m trying to do my part, and I’m encouraging others to do their part and I’m especially encouraging others to wear masks so you can protect others and others can protect themselves, as well. We can make a difference, but to do so we have to act accordingly.”
The International Management District, a public agency that assesses fees on business in part of southwest Houston and uses the funds to improve the area, paid about $1 per mask, said Alan Bernstein of Hawes Hill, the consulting firm that manages the district.
The 10,000 masks gathered Saturday are not N95grade, Green said, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week reversed its previous guidance and suggested that residents wear masks when in public, and Mayor Sylvester Turner and others have asked residents to save professional-grade masks for front-line workers.