University of Virginia School of Medicine
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Homemade cloth masks, especially the Fu design, are needed by local homeless shelters to keep their guests and staff safe.
Contact Information:
Becca Kowalski (rlk7ce@virginia.edu)
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Local team of national initiative. Contact local businesses to ask for donations of any PPE (from masks to hand sanitizer) they may have and not be using.
Contact Information:
Emanuel Grant (ewg4bd@virginia.edu)
Wellness:
Make cards & letters for isolated retirement community members, adopt a senior pen-pal, participate in virtual community outreach to seniors. Potential for virtual concerts, art classes, educational videos for seniors.
Contact Information:
Jessica Little (jln3az@virginia.edu)
Advocacy:
The Virginia Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a force of dedicated volunteers supporting ongoing public health initiatives and assisting during emergencies throughout Virginia, including the current Covid-19 crisis, in medical, public health, and general support capacities.
Contact Information:
Andrew Burns (atb6cc@virginia.edu)
Advocacy:
UVA and PVCC engineers are working on several PPE products and are welcoming support with development of instructional videos and manuals.
Contact Information:
Becca Kowalski (rlk7ce@virginia.edu)
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Want to do some spring cleaning AND help keep our UVA healthcare workers safe against COVID-19? We’re collecting empty hand pump bottles to fill with hand sanitizer and stock up hospital workstations, residents’ offices, and other major work areas at UVA Hospital. You provide the empty bottles and we have the hand sanitizer covered from our friends at Silverback Distillery! Clean, empty hand sanitizer pumps and hand soap pump containers are acceptable. No need to sterilize the bottles.
Contact Information:
Shalini Subbarao (sbs4ju@virginia.edu)
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Students have organized efforts to collect donations of PPE from local businesses and community members to distribute among healthcare facilities based on a self-reported needs assessment. We have also coordinated purchases of PPE directly from suppliers using monetary donations. We are currently working with Virginia Tech’s engineering department to produce face shields.
Contact Information:
Grace Lee and Manavi Bhagwat (swva.covidresponseforce@gmail.com)
Food Services:
Students have facilitated meal delivery by local restaurants wanting to donate food to emergency medicine physicians. Students are also volunteering through Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corps for various community engagement opportunities.
Contact Information:
Vaish Sridhar (swva.covidresponseforce@gmail.com)
Screening and Testing:
Students have joined the Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corps and are assisting at drive-through testing sites and other events hosted by their local MRC branch.
Contact Information:
Dakota Buhrman (swva.covidresponseforce@gmail.com)
Arts, Media, and Entertainment:
Students have engaged the community using social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This media is used to inform the public, connect with local businesses, and organize fundraisers for purchasement of PPE. Examples of fundraisers have included an open mic night with local musicians and partnership with a design company to create t-shirts.
Contact Information:
Ayesha Kar (swva.covidresponseforce@gmail.com)
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM–Virginia Campus)
General Services:
With the number of people using public outdoor spaces increasing, a VCOM student organized students to clean up parks, neighborhoods, and other common spaces in Blacksburg and in the communities wherever students are quarantining to keep them clean and clear of waste.
Contact Information:
Beckie Kager (rkager@vt.vcom.edu)
Arts, Media, and Entertainment:
PRN: Your as needed dose of medical knowledge; a podcast created and produced by VCOM students, created an episode interviewing an emergency medicine physician in New York to spread accurate information about the pandemic.
Contact Information:
Alana Castro-Gilliard (acastrogilliard@vt.vcom.edu)
Food Services:
Groups of third-year students at each core rotation site across VA and NC received grants from VCOM to purchase food for the physicians working on the frontline at the main hospitals at each site.
Contact Information:
Julianna Procaccini O’Toole (jprocaccini@vt.vcom.edu)
Resource Production and Acquisition:
Students and professors are sewing highly effective masks for healthcare workers in our area. We have enough material to eventually produce 2100+ masks.
Contact Information:
Samantha Barta (sbarta@vt.vcom.edu)
Screening and Testing:
Students have joined the Near Southwest Medical Reserve Corps and are assisting at drive-through testing sites and other events hosted by their local MRC branch.
Contact Information:
Dr. Theresa McCann (tmccann@vt.vcom.edu)