Episode Details

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Gary Reloj is Co-founder of the PPE Relief Initiative, an entrepreneur in the tech startup and restaurant industry, a founding board member of The Promise Society, and a COVID-19 survivor.

In late March, Gary shared a public Facebook post, that was a very well-documented account of COVID-19 symptoms he'd experienced, the toll it took on his body, and specific things that he did to cope with the physical discomfort, and anxiety that it brought on. He had come down with symptoms early on, even before New York City went on lockdown and when testing was still not widely available. It was clear that he had written his post as a way to help others who had also contracted COVID-19 or were worried about possibly contracting it. In the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, every little cough, sniffle or bit of malaise sent a lot of us into a panic.

Around that time, I also learned that Gary was spearheading an effort to get PPE (personal protective equipment) to health care workers. That effort became the PPE Relief Initiative (PRI) with a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe to raise $30,000 to give PPE kits to 400 healthcare workers.

Here's a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• How Gary dealt with and recovered from having COVID-19
• The Facebook post that Gary wrote and publicly shared detailing his COVID-19 symptoms and the regime he followed in dealing with his symptoms
• What motivated Gary to start looking for a way to deliver PPE to healthcare workers
• Gary's PPE Relief Initiative Co-founder Dr. Joanne Kwan
• How they determined what to include in the PPE Relief Initiative supply kit that they were going to give health care workers
• The challenges they encountered in obtaining high quality PPE
• The PRI team
• Why the PRI supply kits are delivered directly to health care workers rather than to hospitals
• The GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign for PRI to raise $30,000 to support 400 healthcare workers
• There is still room for around 200 for healthcare workers that live or work in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area and are dealing with COVID-19 patients to apply for the PRI supply kits
• How they prioritize which healthcare workers will receive the PRI supply kits first
• The partnership with The Promise Society on the PRI's GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign
• PRI's support for Black Lives Matter protesters and tips for how protestors should protect themselves and be safe while protesting during this pandemic
• Being prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19 cases
• What's next for PRI after the GoFundMe campaign
• How having COVID-19 has affected Gary's outlook on life

Related Links:

PPE Relief Initiative's GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign: http://pperelief.org/donate or https://bit.ly/2Y7JguX

Eligible healthcare workers can apply for the PRI supply kits here: www.pperelief.org/apply

PPE Relief Initiative's website: https://pperelief.org/

PRI's social media accounts:

PRI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ppe.relief/

PRI's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ppe.relief.initiative/

Cuomo's words really resonated with me and I used the phrase "New York Tough" to help get my mind right and out of the negative mental trench I was in. If you have Covid-19 or someone you know has it, and you're looking for someone to talk to about the experience, please do