MA Toy Designer Raising Funds To Ship Masks To Hospitals

CONCORD, MA — A Concord toy designer is using her manufacturing connections in China to try to bring thousands of face masks to hospitals along the East Coast battling the new coronavirus. Her goal is to bring 40,000 N95 face masks to hospitals in desperate need.

Kara Dyer saw the news about hospitals in New York City and around the country struggling to make their limited supply of personal protective equipment last and felt the need to act.

"I felt really helpless, like so many others do, I wanted to find a way to do something," Dyer said.

Dyer's company, Storytime Toys, manufactures out of a facility in China. As Dyer brainstormed ways to help, she was told her manufacturer in China had access to a facility producing N95 face masks. After reaching out to friends and acquaintances to see if the masks were needed, Dyer said the response was overwhelming.

"I talked to surgeons in Mount Sinai, doctors at Boston Children's Hospital ... they've said 'There is a great need, please help us," Dyer said.

With intel from doctors on the front lines and a manufacturer on standby, Dyer's mission now is to raise enough money to buy the masks and bring them to the U.S.

She started a GoFundMe page on Thursday with a goal of $50,000 — enough to cover the manufacturing costs for 40,000 masks and the shipping. Dyer plans to run the campaign for five days so that she can place an order to the manufacturer as quickly as possible — if all goes as planned a shipment can be scheduled for as early as April 1.

In two days, Dyer's GoFundMe page raised $22,476.

"Donors have been so generous, people really just want to help," Dyer said.

She's researching and consulting with hospitals on what the best mask to buy would be. Her manufacturer can make the CDC standard N95 masks for $2.65 per mask but they can also produce KN95 masks which is the Chinese standard, comparable to N95's. KN95 masks would cost $1.05 per mask to make.

Dyer is determined to find the best mix of masks to benefit the hospitals but said no matter which option, "We have to raise a lot of money — The more money we can raise, the more medical workers we can help," Dyer said.

The masks would go to hospitals in New York City, Boston and Washington D.C.

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