Member Perspective - Special Section: COVID-19 Hero Stories From Around The Network (North America)

WTC Denver
Douglas Jackson, PhD, JD, President and CEO, Project C.U.R.E. and Board Member, WTC Denver 

For more than 30 years, Project C.U.R.E. — a non-profit, humanitarian relief organization that has been a member of WTC Denver for more than a decade — has shipped donated medical supplies and equipment to people in need around the world. During a normal week, the organization delivers about five semi-truck-sized, 40-foot containers filled with everything from catheters to CAT-scans to nearly 140 countries. Until COVID-19. 

On March 16, Project C.U.R.E. received calls from local fire departments and hospitals mentioning they were running very low on PPEs. And the calls kept coming. To address this need, the organization cleared the PPE inventory from its seven warehouses. When those were gone, the team organized collection drives with major league sports teams such as the Arizona CARDINALS®, Chicago BULLS® and Denver BRONCOS®. To date, about 10 semi-trailers filled with medical supplies and equipment have been delivered to frontline healthcare workers across the country. Today, Project C.U.R.E. is continuing in the fight against COVID-19 by providing PPEs to rural hospitals across Colorado and other rural states — partnering with the Civil Air Patrol — and delivering 22,500 emergency relief beds to developing countries around the world. 

Photo caption: A Project C.U.R.E. volunteer helps Colorado residents unload their donated PPEs at Project C.U.R.E.’s PPE drive at Empower Field. 

Photo credit: Project C.U.R.E.

WTC Utah
Clayton Chudleigh, Communications Coordinator, WTC Utah

All members of the WTC Utah (WTCU) team are playing a leading role to mitigate the negative economic impacts of COVID-19. As the chair of the Governor's Economic Response Task Force’s Federal Committee, WTCU led an aggressive statewide public awareness campaign, educating hundreds of thousands in Utah about the Paycheck Protection Program. WTCU also created a team of 50+ volunteers to provide one-on-one assistance to 2,000+ small businesses.

WTCU is using its international network to support Utah’s multicultural community, which has been hit hardest during the pandemic. WTCU facilitated a USD $50,000 donation from the Saudi-based Muslim World League for Utah’s refugee-owned businesses, and arranged for a donation of thousands of masks from a Taiwanese company to Utah’s homeless community. WTCU is also collaborating with multicultural state leaders to ensure resources are available in many languages, and is helping to develop the “Utah Leads Together” economic recovery plan.

Photo caption: As part of Utah's “Stay Safe to Stay Open” campaign, this photo shows the importance of social distancing and is one of the many ways the WTCU team has supported numerous COVID-19 relief and education initiatives throughout the state. Pictured from left to right: Julia Breinholt-Pappas, Miles Hansen, Nicole Sherwood, David Carlebach, Hannah Lowry, Ethan Fong, and Paxton Merrill.

Photo credit: Julia Breinholt-Pappas