Mayor Domenic J. Sarno applauds and is deeply thankful for all of the outpouring of support in response to his call for help in securing N95 and KN95 masks for our city’s dedicated police, fire, and frontline personnel.
Yesterday, Mayor Sarno held a press conference calling upon federal and state agencies to step up and do their job in appropriately and equally distributing these much needed PPE’s for our states and local municipalities so that they are not bogged down by bureaucratic red tape while cannibalizing and bidding against each other for limited supplies.
Mayor Sarno stated, “Again, the President should have invoked the National Defense Act well over a month ago so that Governors and Mayors are not cannibalizing each other for these vital resources”
Since that press conference, the City of Springfield has received numerous calls from the private sector offering assistance with what limited supply they have.
Today, Timothy Murphy, a Springfield native, who had heard the Mayor’s plea for assistance answered the call. Mr. Murphy and one of his students Sandra Zhang, who is from China and saw the toll the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) situation was doing to our nation, put in a call to her family back home in Shanghai, China. Thanks to Mr. Murphy and Ms. Zhang’s compassionate efforts, the City of Springfield was able to secure 300 additional N95 masks.
In addition, Merrill Lynch contacted the Mayor’s Office and donated 140 N95 masks that they could spare to support our brave and dedicated police and fire department personnel.
Combined with yesterday’s donations from MassMutual and Holyoke Medical Center, this brings the total number of donated N95/KN95 masks the city has received from private sources since the Mayor’s press conference to just under 1,000 (940 to be exact).
Mayor Sarno stated, “I am truly humbled and deeply thankful to the outpouring of support from our Springfield community. My sincere and deepest thanks to Springfield native Tim Murphy and his student Ms. Sandra Zhang for answering my clarion call for assistance. I also would like to thank Merrill Lynch for coming to our aid too. It is heartwarming to see so many within our Springfield Community stepping up and offering what assistance they can to help us fight this virus and to protect our residents and business community. This immediate assistance to my public request comes after prior requests to our federal and state government agencies fell on deaf ears. I am hopeful to have more private sector donations of N95/KN95 masks announcements as earlier as tomorrow too.”
The City of Springfield continues to explore all public and private means in which to secure additional PPE’s for our Police and Fire Departments and our first responders and frontline personnel.
“At this point in time, I could care less where these vital and much needed lifesaving PPE’s are coming from.” Mayor Sarno added. “As long as I receive them so that I can provide our brave and dedicated police, fire and frontline personnel with the proper and lifesaving PPE’s, such as the N95 and KN95 masks, they need to do their job. As first responders they are more often than not the first point of contact for any potential coronavirus exposure and as such they need to be equipped with these protective measures.”
