RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina National Guard members have distributed 432,000 gloves, 44,000 face shields, 45,000 shoe covers, 88,800 procedural masks, and 2800 bottles of hand sanitizer split between two sites that support 112 facilities.
The facilities, which are in Beaufort, Bertie, Martin, Pitt, Hertford, Person, Granville, Franklin, Vance, and Warren Counties, were each given 14 days' worth of supplies.
Phil Leonard, with Louisburg Health Care and Rehab, was on-site to collect supplies for his employer and said that their stockpile didn't last very long with everyone needing protective equipment every day.
"During the pandemic, one of our biggest issues has been trying to provide the proper PPE," Leonard said. "This is going to help a lot, so we can get our inventory up and feel like we can meet the need."
In coordinating with the warehouse to get equipment distributed, the North Carolina Guard members worked with local Emergency Management staff to unload supplies from a semi-trailer, put together requests based on the healthcare facilities' needs, and load it into their vehicles when they pulled up to the site.
"I think it's great that the North Carolina National Guard is out here doing this," Leonard said. "There is a workforce shortage right now throughout the healthcare industry. It's good to see the North Carolina National Guard activated at home, helping in this local community situation when we need to help so badly."
1st Lt. Dillon Bobbitt, commander of the 1450th Transportation Company, said he and the Soldiers he is working alongside are happy to show the communities in North Carolina that the Guard is here to protect and serve in any way they can.
"It has been an experience for all of us," Bobbitt said. "For a lot of the Soldiers, this is their first time activated. What we're doing now is what every North Carolina National Guard service member signed up to do; support our state."