Frequently Asked Questions
What is PPE Connect?
PPE Connect is a way for people who have any extra Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or other useful supplies to send them directly to healthcare professionals who need help urgently - even a single open mask or bottle of sanitizer. It’s like GoFundMe or Kickstarter, but instead of donating money, people can donate a mask, a few pairs of gloves or whatever they can spare. It’s totally free, we pay for shipping and schedule a UPS pickup from your front door so you don't have to leave your home.
How does PPE Connect work?
Step 1: Healthcare professionals in need of PPE upload their requests using www.tinyurl.com/getmeppe and we verify their identity.
Step 2: Donors who have any extra PPE can browse these requests and make a PPE donation. Even donating a single mask is great!
Step 3: We send the donor a pre-paid shipping label and schedule a UPS pickup. Just put the PPE in any package, apply the label, and leave it outside. UPS will pick it up and deliver it directly to the healthcare professional, who will be notified it's on the way.
Congrats, you may have just saved the life of someone on the frontline - someone's mother, father, daughter, son, or friend!
Who are we and why are we doing this?
We’re a group of people working on a startup that is not related to healthcare. Given the massive shortage of PPE right now, we wanted to see if we could use our time and skills to help. Similar to websites like Kiva, GoFundMe, Watsi, etc., we think having a place for fellow humans to tell their story and make their appeal directly to potential donors will increase donations. If we can help get one mask or one pair of gloves that wouldn’t have been donated otherwise to a single healthcare pro, this will have been worth it.
Are you making money on this?
No, absolutely not. It’s 100% volunteer and we are paying for all costs involved with running this website and service. We are personally paying for the shipping of every item ourselves to encourage more people to donate. (On that note: if anyone knows anyone at UPS, USPS, or FedEx who might be able to give us a major discount or free shipping, we’d love an introduction!)
What should I donate?
Each healthcare worker has described what they are looking for and any restrictions on what they can accept. If you have any PPE supplies, please consider donating them. Maybe you bought PPE earlier this year before knowing healthcare providers would run out. Maybe you bought PPE that isn’t usually used in healthcare settings, but with the new rules now can be. Maybe you have some PPE left over from a renovation project. Whatever the case may be, if you could donate even a single mask or pair of gloves from your supply to someone who needs it urgently, that would be amazing!
I don’t have any spare PPE, but I still want to help?
Awesome! We’d love your help. Three ways you can help:
- Right now, the creators of this service are paying for the shipping costs out of their own pockets. If you can help make a $10 or $20 contribution that will help us ship out more masks! Here's the GoFundMe link where you can donate towards shipping costs.
- Please share the link www.PPEconnect.org on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Nextdoor, or LinkedIn. If you want a message for the post here’s an example you can use: "PPE Connect is a free way to send spare supplies directly to a healthcare pro who needs them urgently without leaving your home. If you have even a single open mask or pair of gloves, please consider donating. They even pay for shipping!"
- Want to get more involved? Email support@ppeconnect.org- we'd love to get your help. Thank you so much!