CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Extra medical supplies from Hampton Roads are heading to help people in Ukraine.
Leaders with Sentara Healthcare packed up two Operation Blessing trucks with supplies at the Sentara Supply Chain warehouse Friday morning.
“We have surgical gowns, we have gloves, we have masks, CPR masks,” said Iris Lundy, the senior director of Sentara Healthcare Health Equity and Community Engagement.
Those items are going to help people in Ukraine as Russian forces continue to invade the country.
Alexander Rodgers with Operation Blessing said these donations will help get more items to Ukrainian refugees as quickly as possible.
“Partnering with an organization like Sentara meets that need very well,” Rodgers said.
The health system’s Health Equity and Community Engagement and Impact teams have collected pallets of supplies valued at about $3 million.
“Our mission is to improve health every day," Lundy said. "That is a mission that goes beyond borders.”
The Tidewater Ukrainian School Hampton Roads also packed up supplies to ship overseas.
“They’re going to go to the northern city of Chernihiv in Ukraine," Tetiana Ordono, the director of the school, said. "If you’ve might’ve heard on the news, it’s one of the cities which has suffered the most."
Ordono said Ukraine needs more and more support each day. For her, the best way to cope with the destruction overseas is to send over necessary supplies.
“We cannot underestimate the importance of this donation because so many people, so many kids, so many civilians need urgent care,” Ordono said.
Operation Blessing hopes to ship out supplies collected in the coming week.