Mazda Manager Joins Mask Brigade to Bring PPE to Healthcare Workers
Like many major cities, Los Angeles has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Tina Lam, the Program Manager for Brand Experience at Mazda North American Operations, set out to help her local community. In the spirit of Mazda’s ethos of putting people first, Lam and her friends began a donation drive to collect personal protective equipment for healthcare workers.
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Campaigning for a cause
Like many of us, Lam has friends who work in the healthcare industry. Given the constant threat of infection, she wanted to do what she could to help her friends and people like them.
“Ultimately in this environment where everything is uncertain and scary, healthcare workers are doing the most they can by caring for others and providing treatment,” Lam explained in a recent Mazda Cares profile. “We can do our part to keep them healthy and safe so they can then go back and do their job.”
She based her campaign on an online program that succeeded in Seattle. At first, Lam set out to gather unused N95 masks that people already had in their homes. This quickly expanded to other PPE, including gloves, isolation gowns, face shields, surgical masks, and disposable booties. All in all, the program ended up donating over 14,000 items to hospitals in Los Angeles and the Orange County region.
“Our main objective is to fill in the gap until the hospital systems or government, whatever higher power, can distribute accordingly — and we’re getting there,” Lam stated. “We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.”
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Other Mazda efforts to help
As an organization, Mazda has pitched in to help healthcare workers during these trying times. Back in early summer, Mazda offered free vehicle sanitization to qualifying healthcare workers. The offer applied to vehicles of all makes and models.
Want to learn more about Lam’s effort to donate PPE to healthcare workers? Follow the Los Angeles Mask Brigade on Instagram to catch up on the latest happenings.
Kimiko Kidd is a native Daytonian. She graduated from Wright State University with degrees in environmental science and sociology. She loves her trusty old Honda Civic, but dreams of owning a 1974 Ford Falcon XB with a custom paint job and a vintage Kawasaki Z1000. In her free time, Kimiko can be found watercolor-painting, baking muffins, collecting rocks, playing old-school Nintendo games, writing her novel, sewing stuffed animals, and cosplaying as her favorite Mad Max characters. See more articles by Kimiko.