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Date: 10/27/2021
SPRINGFIELD – Discount retail chain Ocean State Job Lot has donated nearly $1 million in personal protective equipment (PPE) to communities across Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.
Executive Director of the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation David Sarlitto detailed that the donations will aid school districts in New Haven, CT, Waterbury, CT, Lowell, MA, Portland, ME and Springfield. Communal donations have been ongoing throughout the pandemic for the retailer, with Ocean State giving $25 million in financial and product donations across 146 communities in 2020, according to Sarlitto.
Whether it’s aiding against a pandemic or commonplace inequities, Sarlitto explained that communal outreach is Ocean State’s initial foundation in establishing their business. “At Ocean State, it’s part of the business. When we open a new store, the charitable foundation is one of the first on the ground asking what the town is all about,” said Sarlitto. He described how the organization’s outreach is specified to each community, as his charitable team works to understand the pertinent needs of each community.
“COVID-19 was an expansion of what we already do … we were looking at what our communities need and what we can get our hands on,” said Sarlitto. The charity director said the genesis for PPE donations came from inquiring within school systems to see how much they were paying for equipment. When he heard the astronomical rates – which he said were four times what the cost should be – his organization worked to outreach with PPE sources to provide to overpaying districts.
Sarlitto explained that the foundation concentrated these PPE donations to schools as they were beginning their first in-person school year since the pandemic. “Springfield was delivered along with several other larger cities…It was tractor trailers [worth of equipment] as opposed to a few pallets,” said Sarlitto. He said that this donation provided Springfield with $250,000 of PPE equipment for the school district.
The PPE Ocean State provides goes beyond the typical cloth mask. Sarlitto discussed the importance of including plexiglass shields for lip reading to create a more equitable learning environment for deaf students and English Language Learners. “They started seeing learning was enabled when you could see a full face, especially for smaller kids,” said Sarlitto. The equipment also includes sanitizers, wipes and traditional cloth masks.
For Ocean State, Sarlitto expressed that these donations are just another part of the retail chain’s mission to leave a positive impact on communities. “Being able to support those households is technically a matter of choice, you don’t have to do those things. At Job Lot, there is a very strong feeling that we should support [communities]…Finding product that is hard to get, buying at a completive price and getting it to people in need, that’s what we do.” said Sarlitto.