DALLAS — Beauty company Mary Kay Inc. announced it has donated more than 75,000 units of hand sanitizer to the Indian Health Service (IHS), including a donation to one of the busiest IHS facilities in the country.
The Dallas-based company said the donations to IHS and the Gallup Indian Medical Center (GIMC) are part of a $10 million charitable initiative to support organizations and populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
IHS provides health services to approximately 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives that belong to federally recognized tribes. The donated hand sanitizer units were used to stock 26 hospitals, 59 health centers and 32 health stations within the nationwide IHS network.
The company also supplied hand sanitizer to the GIMC, a 99-bed hospital on the border of the Navajo Reservation that is one of the busiest IHS facilities in the country. GMIC will use the donated goods to create home hygiene care kits and promote health through educational materials.
"The Indian Health Service, along with our tribal and urban Indian organization partners, are delivering crucial services under extraordinary circumstances," IHS Director Rear Adm. Michael D. Weahkee said in a statement. "Hand sanitizer is an important resource for stopping the spread of COVID-19. We are grateful for this donation and for all the donations that we are receiving from different sources.”
The donation from Mary Kay is part of the company’s effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and support frontline workers. To date, the company has contributed more than $10 million in monetary donations, product donations and distribution support in countries where it operates as well as other communities in need.
“Big, sweeping efforts to help fight this virus are important—and impactful—but we also must focus in on our most vulnerable communities,” David Holl, chairman and CEO of Mary Kay Inc. said in a statement. “The countless stories of families affected in our country’s great Native American population are devastating. It’s our hope that organizations continue to support the Indian Health Service so frontline workers can safely stop the spread and provide care for those already affected by the virus.”
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