Arlington Accepts Donations At Coronavirus Drop-Off Station

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington residents had the chance to donate personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other supplies Friday morning at a one-day, drive-thru, drop-off station at the Central Library. The station was staffed by county employees, with donations going to help resupply local nonprofits.

"One of the problems we have is that our nonprofits, many of them need donations," said Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey, who was at the event. "Many of our residents want to donate and help, but a lot of the nonprofits don't have the ability to safely collect, collect the donations in this time of a pandemic. Also, a lot of them are smaller and don't have a place to store the donations."

According to Garvey, the county government realized that since the Central Library was currently closed in response to directives over the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, it would be a perfect place for residents to drop off items.

Drive-thru lanes were set up using traffic cones in the library's parking lot off of North 10th Street. Following social distancing guidelines, volunteers accepted donations through the passenger's side of the donor's car and then used library carts to bring items inside to be sorted. In sync with CDC guidelines, the items will remain in the library for 72 hours to ensure they are safe to disturb among the county's nonprofit groups.

"We've got not only folks from the library as well as human services, employees from environmental services all over the county coming together to be able to provide the necessary support for our community and our nonprofits," said Aaron Miller, director of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management. "Just like it's a whole of government approach, we're encouraging the whole of community approach."

The drop-off station was accepting the following items:

• Nitrile or vinyl examination gloves  
• N95 or KN95 masks 
• Surgical masks 
• Protective surgical gowns 
• Homemade masks 
• Cleaning products and supplies 
• Non-perishable food items, especially heart-healthy items low in sodium or sugar.

Garvey was pleased with the turnout at Friday's drop-off station and appreciative of the way Arlington residents are working together during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are at war with this virus. It's not easy," she said. "We realize that we can appreciate what people are doing. We appreciate the ideas that people are sending us, because we're having to do things very differently. Nobody's been through something like this before, so thank you everybody for what you're doing and as much as possible, stay home and take care."