NAPA donates masks to B.C.’s Operation Protect

Greg Phoenix, NAPA’s general operations manager in Vancouver, cracks the seal on a full box of N-95 protective masks from 3M.

NAPA Auto Parts in Vancouver has donated 2,100 medical-grade masks to health care professionals in B.C.

The company’s stock of N-95 disposable masks will not go to its normal automotive customers, but to a new initiative called Operation Protect set up to help distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) to health care facilities.

NAPA’s general operations manager in Vancouver, Greg Phoenix, said the need for PPE is so great, it was immediately clear where the masks should go.
“We decided to obviously do the right thing and it was to donate those,” he said in an interview with CTV News last week.

The donation was inspired in part by Phoenix’s father, who just moved to an assisted living facility.

“Very close and dear to my heart is the care facilities right now, and senior living and anything we can help is great,” said Phoenix.

Lee Coonfer, CEO of the B.C. Seniors Living Association, said hospitals, clinics, long-term care homes, assisted living facilities, and seniors’ homes are all at high risk, and the need for protective equipment is critical.

“COVID-19 doesn’t differential between the site you are at. The need is across the board. That’s why we’re doing this,” he said.

So far, more than 300 donors in the province have donated more than 318,000 items, including disposable masks, gowns, gloves, hand sanitizer, and surgical masks.

Read the CTV story and watch their video report HERE.