Suffolk Man Donates Over 60,000 Surgical Masks

Press release from Office of Michael Marcantonio:

June 24, 2020

On Friday, June 20, Michael Marcantonio, Eatons Neck resident and candidate for New York’s 12th Assembly District, donated over 60,000 3-ply surgical masks to various organizations in the Town of Huntington. Recipients included the Northport Village Fire Department, which received 2,500 masks; Northport Village Police Department, which received 10,000 masks; Suffolk County Police Department 2nd Precinct, which received 15,000 masks; American Legion Post 694, which received 2,500 masks; and Family Service League, which received 13,000 masks. The final and largest donation of the day was to Huntington Hospital, which received 25,000 masks. Suffolk County Legislator and Physician Dr. William “Doc” Spencer as well as Dr. Nick Fitterman, executive director of Huntington Hospital, accepted the donation Friday afternoon.

“Mike I just wanted to say that it’s great to see you remember Huntington Hospital. The healthcare providers have gone above and beyond, and know that PPE is really the key to keeping people safe and we know it makes a difference,” Dr. Spencer said. “To have individual citizens like you that are community minded, it really makes a big difference, and as the legislator of this district, and working with Dr. Fitterman, I’m very honored and privileged to be with you and I just want to thank you very much.”

“Legislator Spencer is a hero of mine. He is a politician but also a doctor. When everyone else was quarantined, Dr. Spencer was in the hospital saving lives, and he’s sort of like our modern day superhero,” Mr. Marcantonio said. “He’s such an inspiration, and I have really just been thinking that I had to get some PPE, just something, because that is the most important thing to keep our doctors safe, our nurses safe and our hospital staff safe.”

New York has been hit harder by Covid-19 than almost anywhere in the world. Suffolk County, specifically, has recorded over 40,000 cases with almost 2,000 people dead. Though numbers are going down and businesses are opening back up, health officials continue to warn that the virus has not gone away and that social distancing and wearing masks will be the key to preventing a second wave of cases.
“On behalf of the staff at Huntington Hospital, I want to express our thanks to Michael Marcantonio and his team for their donation of 25,000 procedure masks for our staff, patients and visitors," Dr. Fitterman said.

Mr. Marcantonio, a lifelong Town of Huntington resident, has procured over 175,000 masks after months of work with domestic business contacts and international vendors. Since the coronavirus pandemic started, Mr. Marcantonio has dedicated most of his time to securing ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers and other essential employees. Last month, Mr. Marcantonio facilitated a deal to get 10 ventilators to Stony Brook Hospital. He also was able to get 1,000,000 masks to the New York Police Department.

“I reached out to Mike to see how I could help and he immediately jumped on the opportunity to link me up with as many contacts as possible to the Governor’s office and beyond. At the end of the day we wound up getting 10 units over to Stony Brook University – a deal that was facilitated and closed on a Saturday night thanks to Mike’s help,” Keith Brady, medical field sales consultant for Henry Schein, said. “What was really impressive is that Mike wasn’t getting paid for his time and yet his sense of urgency and desire to help as many people as possible was unmatched. Mike and I were great friends back in our high school days and I’ve always known him to be passionate about the things he cares about. His passion to help facilitate deals to bring crucial medical equipment and PPE to the people who needed it most was really admirable.”

Mr. Marcantonio is the Democratic candidate in the upcoming November election for AD-12. He is running to fill the seat left vacant by former Assemblyman Andrew Raia. The district covers parts of the Towns of Huntington, Babylon and Islip.

This press release was produced by the Office of Michael Marcantonio. The views expressed here are the author's own.