MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Pallets full of boxes with medical supplies were loaded on to a truck on Friday outside the Marion County Public Schools warehouse.
[Timeline: The spread of coronavirus in Florida]
DOING YOUR PART: Marion Co Public Schools donating thousands of emergency supplies to first responders who are in need of gloves, masks, and drape sheets to combat #COVID19. Supt says they had extra supplies & want to help out! pic.twitter.com/iaDggXicRv
— Ezzy Castro (@EzzyCastro) March 27, 2020
The district donated about 3,000 masks, 2,300 boxes of gloves, dozens of bottles of rubbing alcohol and drape sheets to workers on the front lines.
"We did receive some supplies from the state yesterday and those were distributed out last night and we will do the same thing with these and make sure they have what they need," Preston Bowlin with the Marion County Sheriff's Office Emergency Management said.
Bowlin explained facilities across the country are in need of supplies because so many are getting treated for the coronavirus daily.
"There are healthcare nursing homes, hospitals, first responders, fire rescue, and no those that are in the front lines," Bowlin said.
Since students have been off campus for weeks because of the virus, the school district decided to donate the supplies usually used for school clinics and the nursing program at Marion Technical College.
Superintendent Heidi Maier said right now is the time to use those supplies.
"In my mind if we don’t help those folks our first responders fighting this on the front line , our schools will never open so this is the very least we can do to help our first responders," Maier said.
Maier said the district still has medical supplies available once students return back to school.
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