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Wanting to make a difference is nothing new for active members of the Beverly Hills community. But in this time of COVID-19, the ways in which people can give back have dramatically shifted in response to local and state mandates. Welcome the “Masks for Mankind” initiative, a community effort to provide much-needed face masks to local hospitals. 

“Sitting at home, you do feel really helpless [and] we felt compelled to do something,” described Beverly Hills resident Ronit Stone, who launched the initiative last week together with a group of close-knit group friends, all of whom have long supported various community endeavors and local schools. 

Already the group has collected several N-95 face masks in addition to over $2,500 in donations. Stone said the group plans to donate what they received to local hospitals, starting with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. 

“Staying home can be isolating, but being part of a community giving project helps connect us to others we don’t know and who need our help, and that feels good,” Stone told the Courier.

Inspired by the New York Times article, “How Two Very Different Los Angeles Hospitals Are Facing Coronavirus,” Stone said the group banded together with the intention of providing donated masks and money to the two featured hospitals. 

While the distinction of affluence between the two hospitals is very real, the article pointed out that both were in need of masks to meet the upcoming crisis. Those looking to donate unused N-95 masks to local hospitals in support of the healthcare workers who put themselves at risk everyday will find a collection box set up at 805 Cinthia St. 

Alternatively, those who prefer to donate for the purchase of masks can do so through masksformankind.org/donate, a project of LEARN, a 501(c)(3) California nonprofit corporation. “This is a very direct way to give and to help these healthcare workers,” Stone said. “There’s so much need on so may levels and if someone just does one little thing, collectively, that will be a lot of things.” 

For more information, contact tamara.learn@gmail.com.