Israeli group kicks off humanitarian initiative in Washington State.
Israeli group kicks off humanitarian initiative in Washington State.
ISRAEL — Israel-based humanitarian organization SmartAID launched a singular American initiative: “Millions of Masks for Children.”
SmartAID is distributing 1 million FLTR face masks to kids in Washington State served by 15 childcare and youth programs, including refugee and tribal communities
“At SmartAID, our core mission is to harness the power of innovation, data and technology, as well as our extensive network of partners, to save lives, alleviate suffering and empower communities to live the kind of life they value. It’s absolutely critical to protect children from COVID-19 by providing masks. Washington State is just the start,” said Shachar Zahavi, founder-CEO of SmartAID.
Millions of Masks for Children is the brainchild of Zahavi and SmartAID volunteer Trang Le.
“By supporting childcare organizations, we’re providing the support that parents and families need to focus on getting back to work during this chaotic time,” said Le, who is also a volunteer with Restart Partners.
“We were fortunate to connect with Trang Le and Shachar Zahavi with Millions of Masks for Children and quickly realized our partnership could create immediate impact in Washington State and beyond,” said Jason Lemelson, CEO of FLTR.
“We believe this initial donation is the start of something much larger and look forward to continuing to help in any way we can.”
The organization is acting in partnership with shipping company DHL and Washington-based PPE manufacturer FLTR, with warehousing support from SEKO Logistics.
According to Zahavi, nearly 280,000 American children have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since March 2020. During the first week of December, 112,000 children were diagnosed — a record number since the pandemic started, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“This extremely generous donation of a million child-size face masks will help keep everyone in our state safer, from our essential child-care providers to the families of children in their care,” added Deeann Burtch Puffert, CEO of Child Care Aware of Washington.
Zahavi said Utah is next. “Our goal is to reach all 50 states.”
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