MAY 21 • 2020 | 23

Jews in the D

Blue Mask Initiative

University of Michigan students raise
money for masks for front line workers.
A

group of University
of Michigan students
are raising money to
provide KN95 masks to nurs-
ing home staff and healthcare
providers in Detroit through
a project called the Blue Mask
Initiative.
Blue Mask Initiative, start-
ed in early May by University
of Michigan students
Adhavan Arivalagan and
Akash Rau, has also
partnered with similar groups
from other schools, including
Michigan State University,
Northville High School,
Detroit Country Day and
Cranbrook, to raise money for
their supplies.
Together, all the groups
participating in the initiative
have raised nearly $1,250,
which the project’
s leaders
say could purchase 390 KN95
masks.
Rachel Israel, a rising
University of Michigan junior
who is an alum of Hillel
Day School
and North
Farmington
High School,
said she decided
to join the proj-
ect as a board
member when
she realized
that many nursing homes are
unprepared to face the coro-
navirus pandemic.
“I spent the year volunteer-
ing at a nursing home in Ann
Arbor,” Israel said. “I read
an article that there were a
couple cases [of COVID-19]
at that nursing home that I

was working at. I just remem-
ber all the people I met, and
I made such a connection
with them that it just kind of
spooked me, and I was think-
ing that they don’
t have any
kind of gear they need.”
Israel’
s grandma also lives
in a senior living home. Israel
said she felt lucky her family
was given the option to have
her grandma come live with
another relative for the time
being.
“But a lot of people, the
only place they can really live
is in one of those nursing
homes, which are unfor-
tunately not a great place
during a pandemic, and they
need the gear,” she said.
Blue Mask Initiative has
partnered with a doctor who
has a connection to a mask
supplier in Alabama. She
will order the masks and
ship them directly to nursing
homes, Arivalagan said to JN.
“We’
ve already pledged to
[donate masks to] 20 nursing
homes, but we’
re thinking
about reaching out to even
more,” he said. The group
hopes to expand to nursing
homes in other cities aside
from Detroit, including Flint
and Dearborn.

To donate to the Blue Mask Initiative,
email joinusbmi@gmail.com.

MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rachel Israel

COURTESY OF RACHEL ISRAEL

WIKIMEDIA

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