Done with your graduation gown? Here’s how frontline healthcare workers can use it

Millions of disappointed graduates won’tget to walk the stage this year because of the coronavirus, but those graduation gowns can have a second chance to shine and potentially save lives.

Than Moore, an emergency response physician’s assistant in Vermont, founded Gowns4Good to re-purpose grad gowns as personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers.

With a shortage of protective gear, doctors and nurses have been forced to use alternatives — such as garbage bags — as protection against COVID-19 germs, Market Watch reported.

Gowns are more effective than many alternatives as they offer more coverage, Moore says in a video posted on the Gowns4good website.

“So anywhere from large hospitals and institutions to assisted living facilities and EMS clinics, there is such a need and everyone is reaching out,” Moore told WJXT.

More than 80,000 requests have come in to Gowns4Good, and 5,100 gowns have been donated.

To donate, visit Gowns4good.net

Donors can choose how many gowns to give, and what facility they would like to send them to. Instructions on how to mail the gowns area also provided on the site.

This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Done with your graduation gown? Here’s how frontline healthcare workers can use it."