What began as a project putting together personal safety kits (masks, hand sanitizer, etc.) for Brothers and their families transformed into a much larger undertaking for the Massachusetts Consistory.
“I learned that The Overlook/Masonic Health System was in desperate need of personal protective equipment,” said Eugene “Cappy” Capobianco, 33°, Commander in Chief at Massachusetts Consistory.
The Overlook is a large Masonic retirement community in Charlton, Massachusetts. While no residents of the community have been infected with Covid-19, as of May 12, two staff members were home recovering from the Corona virus.
The Overlook’s website states:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused critical shortages of PPE, essential to keeping our Team Members and Community safe. As we continue to focus on and respond to COVID-19 and our top priority of safeguarding our Residents and Team Members, we’d ask for your support and any connections to supply chains and procurement of PPE.”
Like many health care facilities currently managing the COVID-19 crisis, The Overlook’s current PPE needs include eye protection, gloves, isolation gowns, booties, face masks, surgical masks, face shields, and N95 respirators.
As part of the Masonic Health System of Massachusetts, The Overlook’s needs are made all the more challenging because they are a nonprofit, and are on the bottom of the list for any federal or state aid in receiving PPE, Brother Eugene “Cappy” Capobianco said.
Dr. Andrew Artenstein, the chief physician executive at Baystate Health, a not-for-profit health system, experienced similar supply-chain challenges, as revealed in a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
So when The Overlook’s CEO Tameryn Campell put out a call to anyone who may have connections for PPE, Brother Capobianco sprang into action. He successfully acquired and delivered 300 Level 3 surgical gowns, 200 face shields, and over 1,000 surgical, N95, and cloth masks and 1,000 pairs of gloves.
In addition to $18,000 worth of PPE Brother Capobianco spent on his own, the Massachusetts Consistory and Boston Commandery each donated $5,000.
The Overlook CEO Tameryn Campbell expressed her gratitude in a message to Brother “Cappy” Capobianco, and then asked what the organization owed for the items.
Cappy’s response?
“Nothing. It’s what we as Masons do.”
In addition to the equipment provided to The Overlook, Cappy delivered safety kits containing face masks, gloves, educational cards on how to stay safe, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer to Brothers at the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, as well as our Supreme Council office in Lexington for when staff arrives back on site.