GLO Good Foundation Combines Forces with SONSIEL to Fight COVID-19

When dental practices across the US were advised by the American Dental Association to pause routine care and limit operations to emergency treatment only due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GLO Science Founder Dr. Jonathan B. Levine realized that he could fill an urgent need of many NYC hospitals. His own Fifth Avenue dental practice had plenty of inventory of masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that they wouldn’t be using for the time being, while many NYC hospitals were facing significant shortages. So he teamed up with a local catering company who provided its van and contacted colleagues around New York City asking them to join him in donating PPE supplies to local hospitals for the medical providers fighting the virus on the frontlines.

This initiative quickly grew into a partnership between the GLO Good Foundation (the philanthropic arm of GLO Science) and the Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs & Leaders (SONSIEL) who are now working together to power-up donation and distribution of desperately needed personal protective equipment (PPE) to the nation’s frontline. The goal of the initiative is to close the gap in time between crucially needed PPE on the frontlines and a resumption of traditional supply chains so that no healthcare worker is left without proper protection.

By combining forces, the GLO Good Foundation and SONSIEL can access an established, FDA-certified source of respirator masks as well as 501c3 tax-exempt status for donors. Together, the partners have initiated a new purchasing campaign from a $50,000 pooled donation, benefitting countless additional hospital and healthcare facilities around the United States.

SONSIEL first issued an urgent, grassroots call-to-action March 17, 2020 with the SHARE (Strengthen Healthcare Ability to Respond to Emergencies) program, developed by Rebecca C. Love, MSN, RN, and SONSIEL President & Co-Founder. In a matter of days, tens of thousands of pieces of protective gear were collected and brought to frontline locations in nearly a dozen states. A March 20, 2020 ABC News Nightline episode featured the initial work of GLO Good and SONSIEL in the SONSIEL SHARE activity.

With the onslaught of incoming requests for PPE that immediately followed, SONSIEL established a direct-sourcing GoFundMe campaign March 22, 2020 to assist the already-burgeoning community-driven PPE donations. Again, in mere days, more than $30,000 of donations have poured in and are being applied in support of critical PPE fulfillment requests; these include purchase and distribution of 5,000 KN95 respirator masks to the frontline in New York City (NYC) and 6,600 KN95 respirator masks distributed across NYC and the Northeast, in addition to SHARE program donations that have been sent to facilities in over a dozen states to support our frontline healthcare heroes. 

While millions of PPE units are being rushed to hospitals in hot spots all around the country, billions of units are needed to sufficiently protect U.S. frontline healthcare workers. Respirator masks remain the single most-essential PPE item, yet global demand for the most popularly used type, N95 masks, has created an international supply shortage. The CDC has approved use of alternate KN95 masks on the frontline. The GLO Good Foundation has an existing source for KN95 masks from an FDA-certified facility through a long-standing supplier to large healthcare integrated delivery networks and group purchasing organizations. By partnering with the GLO Good Foundation, SONSIEL gains instant access to a trusted PPE source and, because the GLO Good Foundation is an approved 501c3 charity, donors gain tax relief.

Remarked Dr. Jonathan B. Levine, GLO Good Foundation President & Co-Founder, “We want to rally the country to get behind these health care heroes. Our best people are crying out for help on a minute-by-minute basis. The SONSIEL and GLO Good Foundation partnership combines the two organizations’ resources, networks, and qualifications, mobilizing an even more powerful force for good in service to the medical community. We must quickly activate all modes and methods of acquiring and moving appropriate and qualified PPE. Our organization has ready access to approved PPE products. And the GLO Good Foundation is an IRS-approved 501c3 public charity. We’re honored to partner with SONSIEL in this once-in-a-lifetime American effort.”

Rebecca C. Love, MSN, RN, SONSIEL President & Co-Founder, said, “With a hard-working infantry of volunteers, we’ve been blessed to move masks, shields, gowns, gloves, scrubs, hazmat suits, even shoes, disinfectant, and sanitizer to troops of healthcare workers all around the nation. Our primary focus remains putting respirator masks and other physical barriers quickly into the hands of frontline healthcare workers, to give our nurses and physicians a fighting chance. By combining forces with the GLO Good Foundation, we’re now able to move more PPE to the frontlines and every donation is 100% tax deductible.” Ms. Love continued, “We cannot stop until we know we’ve done everything possible. As long as lives are lost in the fight against this virus, we will keep seeking and implementing solutions.”

To contribute to the effort, please visit: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/sonsielxglogood

To learn more about the GLO Good Foundation, please visit: https://gloscience.com/pages/glo-good-foundation