The Project N95 Timeline
In January 2020, the CDC reported the first laboratory-confirmed case of the the 2019 novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the United States. Just weeks later, on March 3rd, 2020, 60 cases were reported across multiple states—Project N95 began the very same day.
Healthcare workers and first-responders were unable to find basic personal protective equipment (PPE). While desperately needed shipments failed to arrive and counterfeit masks flooded the market, doctors and nurses found themselves treating overwhelming numbers of patients with little or no protection. Project N95 stepped into the breach.
In just a few months, hundreds of volunteers banded together to help get life-saving equipment to the front lines of the fight against COVID. Over the next three years, we brought masks, tests, and other critical items to medical professionals and the general public.
This is the true story of how a tiny nonprofit ultimately delivered more than 42 million pieces of PPE to people in need.
This is the guiding question that brought us together. More than 70 volunteers started by gathering data on national demand for PPE. We worked with organizations and governments to find and vet suppliers, quickly becoming the national clearinghouse for PPE. Media outlets like the New York Times and Fast Company spread the word.
How do you understand a problem? It helps if you can visualize it.
In a mere month, more than 6,000 institutions and individuals had submitted requests, allowing us to build a heat-map of shortages. The breadth and scale of the problem was apparent—but the solution was daunting.
Our first step was to take requests directly from people looking for masks and other equipment. Dozens of volunteers fielded hundreds of calls, primarily from small healthcare organizations that we then connected to vetted sellers of authentic supplies.
As supply chains started to rebound, small practitioners and community health centers were still locked out of the market. Counterfeit PPE and price gouging continued (N95 masks had risen from less than $1 to more than $5 per unit). In response, we developed an aggregated (group) order system with American College of Physicians (ACP) followed by an American Medical Association (AMA) aggregation in July. Ordering large volumes directly from suppliers allowed us to deliver to individuals at reasonable prices.
We continued to aggregate orders and work with partners like the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and free clinics supported by the AAFP Foundation on distribution so that small healthcare organizations could access reliable PPE. Tens of thousands of N95 respirators were distributed, along with much-needed gowns, face shields, and gloves.
New supply chain disruptions emerged as a shortage of medical-grade gloves led to canceled procedures. Soon, damaged or dirty gloves infiltrated the market. Prices skyrocketed from $3 to $22 per box. Using our group-purchasing model, we secured more than 1.45 million vetted gloves for small healthcare organizations.
By February of 2021—less than a full year after our founding—we had already provided more than 5 million units of PPE throughout the U.S. from donations, group orders, and our online marketplace for healthcare professionals and front-line workers. It was now time to open up the shop to the general public. That same month, the New York Times featured us again, emphasizing our role in helping average consumers find authentic masks.
While the FDA had issued the first Emergency Use Authorization (EAU) for a rapid, at-home COVID-19 test in November 2020, access for the public remained limited. Recognizing this as a critical gap in managing the pandemic, we expanded our nonprofit shop to include COVID-19 test kits.
As strict lockdowns had begun to ease, many people returned to in-person school and work. Testing quickly becomes a key component to managing spread and keeping people safe. Accordingly, we partnered with the Arizona State University (ASU) College of Health Solutions’ Testing Commons program, the Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation and Technology (CIMIT), and WhenToTest to help make these solutions available for schools, offices, and other on-site organizations.
Despite immense challenges in securing supply, Project N95 remains committed to making COVID-19 tests available to the general public. Thanks to our buyer education programs and nonprofit shop, we had managed to deliver over 25,000 COVID-19 test kits by the end of November 2021.
The Omicron variant had become predominant in the U.S., resulting in an unprecedented surge of cases. Project N95 was featured in media outlets like CNN, NPR, and Fast Company as we continued to serve as a trusted source. However counterfeit masks continued to circulate. The CDC reported that more than 60% of KN95s on the market were fake, counterfeit, or substandard, highlighting how our vetting process was as critical as ever.
The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University partnered with Project N95 on the "Masks for Communities" campaign, ultimately distributing more than one million high-filtration masks across 10 states.
The nonprofit shop got its first major facelift in over a year, including a fresh layout, easy-to-use search and filters, seamless checkout, and an expanded assortment of products. In particular, some fun and colorful ear-loop masks from US-based manufacturers helped bring stylish protection to the masses.
Thanks in no small part to the adoption of vaccines, 2022 had proved to be far less deadly. Additionally, access to high-quality respiratory protection helped keep the public safe—Project N95 did its part by shipping and donating more than 13,500,000 units of high-filtration masks and other pieces of PPE.
As schools continued to experience high rates of respiratory illnesses, Project N95 continued its focus on healthy air for communities. We launched the Clean Air for All (CAFA) program to promote fresh, filtered air for gathering places, and donated DIY air purifiers to schools in Chicago and New Jersey.
Facing the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), we wanted to help the public prepare for changes in policy. We launched our Community Conversations educational webinar series to provide information from experts and resources to help people stay safe.
Project N95 made some major updates to its Clean Air for All campaign, launching a pilot program for air purifier donations, instructions for building your own air purifier, and the resource library to provide more information about getting a breath of fresh air.
Project N95 added more than half a dozen affordable new HEPA air purifiers to the nonprofit shop along with air quality monitors to help the general public understand and access clean air in their homes, schools, and workplaces.
The Clean Air for All program continued throughout the summer with a donation of air purifiers to middle school classrooms in San Francisco and a childcare center in Chicago. The final project was completed in October with a donation to an elementary school in Kentucky. In the same month, we delivered a petition to the CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) supporting stronger infection prevention measures in healthcare. Project N95 ultimately provided more than 300 free air purifiers to community spaces.
Once we had realized our work was no longer sustainable, Project N95 began to wind down its operations.
In the end, our team had vetted more than 9,800 products, distributed more than 37 million units of PPE through the nonprofit shop, and donated over 5 million items to individuals and communities in need.
It has been our honor to serve so many during this moment in history. We never could have done so much good without you. While this is the end of our chapter, the impact we made together will never be forgotten.