Thanks to a fundraiser in Baltimore, teachers with Baltimore City Schools will be better protected when they return to the classroom soon. It started when Samantha Claassen, owner of Golden West Cafe, was talking to a teacher about what the school district would provide for in-person learning - only face shields and cloth masks.
Their conversation happened last month, before teachers were eligible to be vaccinated, and Claassen didn’t think that was enough protection for educators. She felt she had to do something, so she organized a fundraiser with other restaurants who agreed to donate 20% of their sales from February 22nd to the cause. Soon other Baltimore businesses joined in and the fundraiser was able to do much more than their original goal.
In addition to the restaurants, Claassen says ACME Paper Company, Cintas and the Performance Food Group were major donors and in total, the fundraiser donated 20-thousand KN95 masks and more than 11-thousand blue surgical masks for Baltimore City Schools’ teachers. “We just have to stick together, and we saw a huge outpouring of support,” Claassen explains. “Seeing the humanity during all of this is really heartwarming."
Source:Today