Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of meeting Sam Alipio, a man who works as a Customer Service Agent for United Airlines. Sam’s mom lives in Hawaii and he had recently visited just a few days after Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted on the Big Island. While in Hawaii, he learned of how bad the air quality is because of the ash and lava from the volcano. According to Sam, all masks were sold out in Hawaii, leaving people to have to breathe in the horrible air quality.
As the volcano continues to wreck devastation across the island, Sam knew that he wanted to help the people of Hawaii affected by the volcano. He had originally gone to every 99 Cent Store he could find and buying all the masks they had in stock. Coincidentally, he’s friends with one of our board members, Rick Darnell, who referred him to us after learning that he was buying all the masks from the store. We were able to provide Sam with nearly 10,000 masks to deliver and distribute in Hawaii.
(Sam and our Board Member, Rick, with the masks in our warehouse)
Through his connection with United Airlines and because of the urgent need of these masks, United Airlines waived his plane ticket, so that they could deliver the masks. While in Hawaii, he went to Ground Zero, which is serving as the evacuation center for the volcano, and he was able to help distribute the masks over a span of 3 days. He was able to deliver a large portion of the masks to an elementary school there, as well as churches, senior centers, and Red Cross shelters.
(One of the recipients of the masks)
Sam, thank you for going the extra mile to make sure the people in Hawaii had the masks that they needed! We are beyond honored to have partnered with you on this.