These two friends created Mask-Match.com to help people send spare masks to healthcare workers

There are now at least 1,188,489 confirmed cases of coronavirus with at least 64,103 deaths worldwide. Doctors and nurses are working around the clock to provide the much needed treatment to COVID-19 patients. However, many of these health care care workers are getting sicker from coronavirus due to shortage or lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer’s body from injury or infection.

To address this problem, two friends, Chloe Alpert and Liz Klinger, decided to take action. They created a website to help people send spare masks to healthcare workers without leaving their house. The site, which is called Mask-Match.com, enables people with spare masks send them directly to healthcare workers on the front lines who need them — without needing to leave their house. To date, they have delivered a total of  63,746 to health care workers around the country.

Many hospitals have had to limit the number of masks healthcare workers can use because there isn’t enough. Many are forced to go without due to lack of supply. While factories domestically and overseas are rushing to produce more, producing masks takes time that many healthcare workers don’t have. Instead of manufacturing new masks, the founder’s mission is to tap into the masks we already have masks in our closets, garages, basements, and workshops.

Here is how it works. If you are a healthcare worker, you fill out the “I need masks” form so they know who you are and where they need to send your masks. If you have masks, you then fill out the “I have masks” form, and they will email you with a healthcare worker match so you can ship your masks directly to them. Their team then verifies the identities and sends a match via email to the donor.* The donor ships it out (they can use USPS Click-N-Ship to schedule a pickup) and sends a tracking number. They then share the tracking number with the healthcare worker.