Teachers and Administrators to Face New School Year Shielded
Erie County COVID-19 Relief Fund to supply 5,530 face shields to public school district employees
Any school teacher or administrator could tell you how difficult it is to get through an entire school year healthy — several hours a day in close quarters with children who are infamous for getting into anything and everything, shared surfaces galore, and at-times poor ventilation create the ideal incubator for germs. Adding the novel coronavirus to the usual menagerie of microbes understandably has many on the edge about going back to school later this year.
Before a $22,120 grant through the Erie County COVID-19 Human Relief Fund, 5,530 public school district employees could not shield their face when they're with youth. But thanks to the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority and the Erie City Council, they can. The request was made through Project Face Shield, the partnership between Penn State Behrend and Case Western Reserve universities and several regional companies aimed at providing free personal protective equipment to area nonprofits. Those in need of face shields can still request them for full-time employees here.
The face shield donations break down per district as follows:
City of Erie
Millcreek
Ft. LeBoeuf
Corry
Fairview
Harbor Creek
Iroquois
North East
Northwestern
General McLane
Girard
Wattsburg
Union City
1,200
831
400
380
375
375
350
329
300
275
265
250
200
Project Face Shield for Educators was the 44th overall grant made through the Erie County COVID-19 Response Fund of which the Human Relief Fund is a part. A grand total of $673,434 has been awarded since its launch on March 19.
Other recent grants include:
- $2,000 to the Sacred Heart Food Pantry for food and personal items
- $8,710 to ServErie to support their Community Corp Outreach Team
- $13,960 to the Youth Leadership Institute of Erie to purchase tech equipment for remote access to their youth leadership program
- $20,000 to Erie County Public Safety and Human Services employees for PPE, also through Project Face Shield
- $5,200 to Sarah Reed Senior Living for shelter-in-place food equipment
- $17,210 to International Institute of Erie for preschool child care and their summer program for the children of refugees and immigrants
Matt Swanseger can be reached at mswanseger@eriereader.com
