Disney Parks donates 100K N95 masks, 150K rain ponchos to help fight coronavirus

Disney Parks announced on Wednesday that it donated thousands of rain ponchos and N95 masks to hospitals and medical professional in need across the country to help combat the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The parks division of the Walt Disney Company said in an announcement that it donated 150,000 rain ponchos to MedShare, a humanitarian aid organization it said will help distribute them.

It also said that it sent more than 100,000 N95 masks to New York, which has seen the worst outbreak in the country, and California and Florida, where it operates its two biggest parks. 

Charles Redding, the CEO and president of MedShare, said the organization appreciates the donation by Disney Parks to “support hospitals and healthcare workers on the frontlines.” 

“The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Redding added in a statement. “We have to find ways to pool our resources and work together to help the healthcare workers who are doing their very best to treat patients and contain COVID-19.

Disneyland and Disney World announced last month that they would be donating excess food to food banks in their local communities in Florida and California as the parks remain closed amid the pandemic.

At the time, Harald Herrmann, who serves as CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, said the “donations of food, especially shelf-stable food, will be critical in the days and weeks ahead to serve those in our community impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.” 

Last month, Disney announced it would be closing its parks in the U.S. to help limit the spread of COVID-19. The New York Times said the closures marked the first instance since the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that the corporation closed both parks.