By Sanne Young – March 20, 2020
Cases of face masks in storage at InfoAge in Wall Township have been donated to Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank and to first
responders in Wall Township. PHOTO COURTESY OF INFOAGE
WALL TOWNSHIP — The InfoAge Science History Learning Center on Thursday donated more than 1,400 face masks to help provide personal protection for hospital staff and first responders fighting the onslaught of the coronavirus.
More than 1,000 N-95 Healthcare Particulate Respirator masks were donated to Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and more than 400 masks were donated to first responders in Wall Township.
The masks had been in storage since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, when a volunteer storm response center was set up on the InfoAge campus.
“The excess masks were held in the event that there would be a need for them again. That need has arrived and InfoAge was there to support its community,” according to an InfoAge Facebook post.
An InfoAge representative on Thursday texted Timothy Hogan, the Riverview president, and asked if he would be interested in a donation of the masks. Mr. Hogan immediately texted back: “Yes! Absolutely!” and within an hour he drove through the InfoAge gates in his own SUV. Twenty minutes later he was headed north on Route 18 to Red Bank, said Michael T. Ruane, the InfoAge CEO.
Around the same time Thursday, a Wall Township Police sergeant picked up several cases of the masks to be used by township police, EMTs and first aid squad volunteers.
“The masks will put Wall and Riverview emergency responders and team members in a better place with respect to their personal safety and, ultimately, their family’s safety,” Mr. Ruane said.