American casino and resort company Las Vegas Sands has announced it will donate two million medical masks and 20,000 protective suits to help health-care professionals, first responders and nonprofit organizations in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.
Medical mask donations are set to be distributed from the company’s corporate headquarters of Nevada as well as in New York, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
The protective suits and masks will be donated to hospitals and first responders in Nevada, with the two million medical masks set to be split evenly with New York.
Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon G. Adelson, stated: “Hopefully our donations will help protect people on the front lines so they can continue their invaluable work, and we can start to see the numbers of people affected begin to diminish.
“Our properties in Las Vegas may be empty right now, but our hearts are full of hope for the future. The determination and courage I have seen in our Team Members, which I know is the same throughout this country, gives me every confidence we will get through this unprecedented crisis.”
This contribution marks the second round of personal protective equipment donations Sands has made, building on the organization’s previous donation that saw it provide 100,000 masks to the Las Vegas health-care community, 5,000 masks to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and 1,900 coronavirus test kits to the state of Nevada.
Discussing the masks being sent to New York, Adelson added: “People are looking to New York as a bellwether for what comes next, both in terms of the pandemic’s impact and for how quickly the region, particularly New York City, is able to recover from the aftermath of the virus. It’s important we steer resources to the places where the need is the greatest and most urgent.”
In addition to supplying protective gear Sands is also fulfilling its pledge to give $250,000 to several local organizations. The company is currently making contributions to Three Square, Southern Nevada’s largest hunger-relief organization; Communities In Schools, which is helping provide meals to students who would otherwise be participating in their school’s free and subsidized meal programs; and Share Village Las Vegas, a veterans assistance organization that also runs a community food pantry.
In total Sands has donated 60 pallets of food and over 55,000 bottles of water to local organizations whilst also continuing to pay its entire Las Vegas staff team despite the closure of its properties.