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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