This is another example of people seeing what is needed and stepping up with imaginative solutions to solve a critical problem. We mentioned in the AGEIST newsletter a few weeks back about the critical health needs of the Navajo reservation.
One of our readers, Dr Ruth Zimmer, already having helped innovate the snorkel mask PPE solution for hospital workers, took it upon herself to investigate. It turns out she had extra masks, more than her local hospitals could use, and went about researching a contact in the Navajo Nation. Through a chance meeting, she made contact with Byron Clarke, COO of Utah Navajo Health System. Ruth and Byron spoke that evening. The reservation is desperate for supplies and caregivers — they have the highest outbreak outside of New York and a fraction of the resources.
Medical-Grade PPE, Delivered Personally to the Navajo Nation
Dr. Zimmer and her husband loaded up 84 masks and headed south to do a direct delivery run of the critically needed masks. She didn’t UPS them, she didn’t wait for them to be picked up. Nope, she and her husband arranged for these snorkel masks to be modified to medical specifications, and then delivered themselves. That is commitment. That is seeing a problem and actuating a solution. You can imagine how grateful the staff, who felt they had been completely forgotten in the midst of the pandemic, were when they received the masks.
The mask delivery was the result of perhaps a dozen seemingly random coincidences throughout the world that led to the mask being developed, the needs of the Navajo becoming known, and then being delivered. The entire chain was propelled by selfless acts of kindness by complete strangers, from around the world, who had no knowledge of each other.
Daily Acts of Generosity by Regular People Everywhere
We played a small role here in our newsletter by letting some of these parties know about solutions and needs, but we in no way actually caused any of this to happen; others did. It is easy to focus on the many failings that have presented themselves in this crisis and, tragically, they are legion, but there are also so many daily acts of generosity by regular people everywhere.
This is why, every week, we try to highlight a person, organization or company that is doing their part to help others. Our job at AGEIST has always been to increase the imagination of what is possible. That mission has taken on more importance now. If you have a story that you think could provoke someone’s imagination of how to help, please send it to us. You never know what solutions it may initiate.
To donate to the Navajo Nation Relief Fund: http://www.nndoh.org/donate.html
