A grassroots organization that grew to a nationwide movement has wrapped up operations for the year, with some staggering results.
Conquer COVID-19 started on March 19, when a group of six friends came together to brainstorm ways to address the shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) faced by healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group quickly grew in numbers to more than 120 volunteers, including actor Ryan Reynolds and Canadian hockey icon Hayley Wickenheiser.
Over a period of five months, volunteers from all walks of life worked to get more than three million items of PPE into the hands of frontline healthcare workers across the country. The group reached more than 400 sites in 184 towns and cities across Canada in eight provinces and one territory.
Nearly 775,000 items of PPE were donated by individuals and businesses in April and May at PPE drives held in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia; and 2.36 million surgical masks and 23,374 litres of hand sanitizer were procured in the months following using the $2.38 million in donations received from Canadians and corporations.
Sudbury's Health Sciences North was one of the more than 400 sites that received a donation from Conquer COVID-19, with Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster Jamie Campbell making the trek north in April.
"I'm just so proud to be part of the organization, I'm glad that I was able to catch wind of what they were doing early on when they formed the group," said Campbell. "I'm so glad that I jumped in, it changed the way that I looked at things, I would never have been in Sudbury three times between April and June if I hadn't picked up the phone and said that I want to help."
Not only was the experience one that introduced Campbell to a number of Ontario communities, but it was an eye opener to the struggle that many centres were having in acquiring PPE.
"I knew nothing about the shortage of PPE when I volunteered, I wasn't aware of the distribution streams and what I learned very quickly was until there was some kind of provincial or federal distribution it was everybody for themselves," said Campbell.
"Hayley Wickenheiser made it crystal clear to all of us when she explained why she got involved was because her coworkers and contemporaries were struggling to find PPE that they didn't have to continue to recycle. When I got on social media and found a paramedic up in Timmins who was desperate for his EMS facility to get PPE that's when I jumped."
During his three months volunteering with Conquer COVID-19, Campbell logged nearly 9,000 km on Ontario roads, reaching as far north as Thunder Bay.
"I figured it would be completely and utterly grassroots, and that we'd do local distribution and do the best that we could and if we accomplished something and helped people along the way then that was a major step, but I never envisioned it being a story on a national level," said Campbell.
"The numbers that were released I never imagined they'd be reached."
Now back to his regular duties covering the Toronto Blue Jays, Campbell says he's thankful that he jumped in to help when he did and that the summer of 2020 will be one he will long remember.
"I decided to reach out to people to let them know I would be in their regions, if they were Blue Jays fans I'd stop by the house to say hello, if they were frontline personnel I was happy to stop by a Tim Hortons to pick up coffee for nurses and doctors," Campbell said.
"That's how I ended up meeting these people I had never previously known and that's the part that I'll always remember. There's doctors in Timmins that I will probably have lifelong friendships with, I've been invited to a cottage up in that area when I get some free time and these are relationships that never would've been formed if I hadn't got involved."
