By TIM KELLY
The effort by a group of Ocean City men to purchase and deliver medical grade protective masks to aid the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic has been successful — and then some.
Andrew Moon and friends Billy Godfrey, Tony Wilson and Steve McKusker recently located a source for the preferred “N95” masks and purchased and delivered 250 each to Cape Regional Medical Center in Cape May Court House and Shore Medical Center in Somers Point.
As needed and appreciated as the donations were, the men realized the lack of protective gear was an ongoing problem worldwide in the fight against the potentially deadly virus. They wanted to keep the project going and continue to provide the masks. As a result, Moon put together a GoFundMe page.
The results are nothing short of remarkable. The men set a goal of $3,600 to pay for a new order of the masks, and in less than eight days, generous folks pushed the total amount raised to $4,300, or $700 more than the goal.
“The $3,600 was raised pretty quickly,” said Moon, who works with Godfrey at the Marr Agency Real Estate Group. “It was pretty neat to see that people were still making contributions when they already knew we had reached the goal.”
With the proceeds, the men purchased 500 additional masks for each of the hospitals, Moon said. A portion of the extra money was used to purchase masks for OCNJ CARE, the nonprofit organization charged with organizing volunteers, identifying people in need and providing meals and other resources during this time of crisis.
“That is awesome,” said Drew Fasy, OCNJ CARE’s chairman. “When Mayor (Jay) Gillian asked me to reorganize the group (it was suspended after fulfilling its original mission to aid victims of Superstorm Sandy) I couldn’t say no. The reward is seeing the very best in people as they respond to help those less fortunate. This group of men is a perfect illustration of that. These are guys who wanted to step up. They are putting their own health at risk to help others.”
Fasy said his supply of the masks will be used by OCNJ CARE volunteers who deliver meals and other aid all around town.
The other men in the group of friends are local business owners. Wilson, who is also a city councilman, has a plumbing business and McKusker owns Box of Rain Irrigation. All four of the men reside in Ocean City.
Godfrey said the desire was to help alleviate the mask shortage, which has plagued front line medical personnel in the United States and elsewhere around the world in the battle to contain and eventually halt the epidemic.
He said the men did not want to see a repeat of the situation in Italy, where news reports estimate one in ten of the coronavirus victims is a healthcare worker. With masks all but nonexistent there, doctors, nurses and other frontline personnel were treating infected people with makeshift masks or none at all.
“We don’t want that to happen at the hospitals serving Ocean City,” Godfrey said in an interview prior to the original donation.
Moon said the need at the local hospitals is critical as the institutions struggle with shortages of protective masks, gloves and gowns.
According to Moon, the GoFundMe page will continue at least in the short term. To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/atlantic-and-cape-may-county-cares.
“It’s a great feeling to see all the people who want to help and to give them a way that they can help,” Moon said.
“It’s also gratifying to see the reaction of the people at the hospitals. They are truly grateful to receive these masks,” he added.
