CHARLEMONT — After originating from Berkshire East less than three weeks ago, “Goggles for Docs” has grown into a global effort providing new or used ski goggles to health care workers and organizing online concerts to promote donations of goggles.
To promote the campaign, musician KT Tunstall and Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin will be performing a live virtual concert Friday at 7 p.m. at Facebook.com/REVERB.
To date, the grassroots effort has provided more than 30,000 goggles to hospitals and health care clinics in North America. The team of volunteers has grown to include around 500 members.
“Its been incredible,” said Melissa Gullotti, a Goggles for Docs volunteer.
According to Gullotti, teams from Australia, the U.K., Argentina and more have reached out to Goggles for Docs to set up similar efforts of their own. Additionally, the original Goggles for Docs website is now accepting donations to send to European hospitals.
Just 19 days ago, a single email appeared in the inbox of Jon Schaefer, CEO of Berkshire East. The email was from a doctor at a New York hospital requesting a donation of ski goggles for use as personal protective equipment.
“This simple moment initiated a series of actions that galvanized the ski and action sport worlds into a focused, global effort to bring protective eye wear to health care workers practicing ‘battlefield medicine’ in the war against the coronavirus,” Schaefer said Thursday in a letter posted to the Goggles for Docs Facebook page.
The volunteer-led team has worked to vet over 550 hospital requests from facilities located in all 50 states, including on several Native American reservations and in Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and France. According to Schaefer, volunteers have created and managed 277 drop box locations in 35 states and five countries. Thousands of individuals and dozens of companies have committed their gear and inventory to support caregivers.
To further promote the donation effort, the Virtual Après Music Series was established in partnership with REVERB.org. Musical artists have been volunteering to perform 30- to 45-minute sets from their living rooms, which can be viewed at Facebook.com/REVERB.
One of Friday’s performers, singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, is known for hits including “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See.” Fans can expect to hear Tunstall play some of her most popular songs during tonight’s virtual concert, as well as hear about how she teamed up with Landshark Lager to donate new goggles to Goggles For Docs.
Also featured in Friday’s livestream will be Mikaela Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup alpine skier on the U.S. Ski Team. By winning her second Olympic gold medal in the 2018 giant slalom, Shiffrin tied Ted Ligety and Andrea Mead Lawrence for the most Olympic gold medals ever won by an American Olympian in alpine skiing. Shiffrin, who is also a self-taught singer and guitarist, plans to entertain fans with a favorite cover song while performing from home.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.