I hope this letter finds you well as we all continue to work around the challenges of daily life in these unprecedented times.

As BBF continues to respond to the COVID-19 crisis by supporting healthcare partners in many geographic areas, our primary focus now is on assisting local front-line healthcare providers who care for the underserved and vulnerable members of the community. The need for PPE (personal protection equipment) that was originally centered around major health systems and hospitals, is most apparent in these neighborhood care facilities.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded across the world, UPMC faced a unique set of challenges as one of the only academic medical centers managing and operating hospitals internationally. With operations in China, Italy, Ireland and the U.S., it was critical for the health system to ensure adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for its health care workers and the communities it serves around the globe.

BBF is joining #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving and unity that will take place May 5 as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. #GivingTuesdayNow is an opportunity for people around the world to stand together in unity and use their individual power of generosity to remain connected and help heal communities in this difficult time.

As we face one of the most challenging times in modern day memory, we hope that you and your loved ones are safe under such trying circumstances. Foremost in our thoughts lie the well-being of family and friends, the wider BBF community, along with anxious and suffering people the world over. Our hearts go out especially to the elderly and those who have preexisting conditions or are in frail health; knowing that this makes an already difficult situation even more challenging.

Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF) will be shipping one of the largest global relief packages combatting the Coronavirus to China from their Northside location today with global giant Alibaba, Air China, and a coalition of Pittsburgh organizations.

People from all sectors in the US have joined together to send medical supplies to China in the fight against Covid-19.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sister city to Wuhan, is home to the Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF). The charity recently sent 180,000 medical face masks and protective equipment to China to help fight against the coronavirus outbreak. On January 12, BBF sent its first shipment via Air China from John F. Kennedy Airport.

At 11:30 am EST 180,000 surgical masks from Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF) in Pittsburgh, PA took off aboard an Air China cargo flight from JFK. These masks will be distributed to medical facilities fighting Covid- 19 in China. The newly named Coronavirus continues to affect large swaths of the Chinese population as it spreads from Wuhan, Hubei Province.