Some of the Work We've Done
The Focus of Our Efforts
Vaccine Clinics
Fighting infectious diseases at the Ground Level
The best way to reduce the spread of any virus is prevention. That is why we work relentlessly on providing pop up vaccine clinics in areas where people do not have easy access to the vaccines. We conduct weekly clinics at multiple different locations ranging from schools in low-income areas to neighborhood parking lots in an effort to provide vaccination to as many people as possible!
So far in the 2020-2021 flu season we have held 38 flu clinics giving out 747 free flu vaccines to people in need. The Influenza virus has a transmission rate of 1.8, meaning for every person that contracts the flu virus on average spreads it to an additional 1.8 people. This is significant to us because that means for the 747 vaccines we have provided; we have potentially prevented 2092 people from contracting the flu in a time where community health is an upmost priority.
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With COVID-19 vaccines now available we are starting up remote vaccine clinics in Frederick County to distribute the COVID-19 Vaccine. Our clinics will be walk/drive up clinics with no appointment needed. This way we can help as many people as possible get vaccinated regardless of their circumstances.
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Community Progress
Tackling the Issue
Throughout the year we have worked with multiple different organizations including the County Health Department and the Board of Education to help make our mission a success. We have been able to work with these organizations to help improve sanitation efforts in our school system by allowing hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes in the classrooms (previously only allowed to be used by the janitorial staff) along with providing education on the spread of germs in school and proper handwashing techniques. We have also been able to work with them on making flu vaccines available in public schools for school nurses to be able to administer them (with parent consent) to make it easier for children to get vaccinated. Working with the Health Department we have been able to have policies and procedures introduced to increase communication between the health department and private practices to help reduce vaccine shortages across the county. These procedures introduced by the health department will allow the health department to provide vaccines to private practices when their supply becomes depleted reducing the possibility of people not being able to get their vaccine due to shortages.
Supporting those in Need
Doing What’s Needed
Throughout the course of the year, we have worked with the Rescue Mission and the Faith House to provide bags of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, hot meals from local restaurants, hand sanitizer from local distilleries, and KN95 masks from our Local Lowes to give to our patrons that have fallen on hard times. This continuous effort happens monthly and is another way for us to help fight infectious diseases at the ground level and reduce community wide transmission.
We also worked with the Faith House over the holidays and supplied them with 11 Christmas Trees and boxes of decorations to help them provide a nice Christmas for their residence.
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We've also just launched Operation Healthy Growing where we are planting fresh produce in individual pots and in community gardens to give to people in need to help promote healthier eating! As we know that eating healthy promotes a stronger immune system!
Community Support
Providing Support in a time of need
We work hard to provide support for those in need to help keep their spirits high and hope alive! We find that often it is the simple little things that can make a big impact in someone's life. There for we went to work this year and provided school supplies for over 100 families, gave out over 150 pumpkin painting kits for kids at Halloween, supplied 72 Christmas trees and 50 Christmas wreaths to families in need for the holidays, have held multiple large clothing drives, and provided Toys for over 40 families at Christmas. On top of that we worked with the RISE organization and provided 25 bags of clothing and 150 first aid kits to send to Honduras after they were significantly impacted by hurricanes.
Though these actions were not centered around our mission we felt compelled to do them to help our community and provide the support it deserves in an unprecedented time. This was our way of giving back to a community that supported us tremendously when we needed it the most!
We're so proud of our CEO and Co-Founder Brooke DeSantis to have been awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Award, S.H.E.R.O Award, and the Frederick DoGooder Award for the great work she is doing to help our community!Â
If you're interested in joining our cause please reach out to us today and get involved!