Fight COVID-19: Join Avant Ski's Effort for Goggles for Docs

With COVID-19 sweeping the globe, thoughts of bluebird days and endless powder seem like a distant memory. Medical professionals are on the front lines fighting this battle, and they are doing it without basic personal protection equipment (PPE) like gloves, gowns, and face protection. If you’re lucky enough to be riding this out at home, you may be searching for a way to contribute to the effort. 

While it feels difficult to individually make a difference — the answer is already sitting in your closet collecting dust...Goggles!

Goggles for Docs is a grassroots organization collecting ski goggles and distributing them to doctors and nurses on the front-lines of the pandemic. The organization was started earlier this week by Jon Schaefer, the general manager at Berkshire East, after he received a plea from a doctor in New York City for goggles. Maybe you have an extra pair? Maybe you were planning on buying new ones next

season? Instead of letting your old goggles sit around, let’s get them to the medical providers that desperately need them. *Obviously ski goggles are not the same as medical-grade PPE. But shortages of PPE are so grave right now that medical professionals are looking for any way to protect themselves. As the Goggles for Docs website says, they’re “better than a COVID cough to the face.”

To make your donation, head to Goggles for Docs where you can find a list of hospitals that need your goggles. The list is constantly evolving because every time an order is filled at one hospital, a new request pops up somewhere else. You’ll also find simple instructions for getting your goggles prepped, shipped, and directly into the hands of the medical providers. Because time is critical, Avant Ski will not be collecting goggles separately. We don’t want to add another step in the supply chain that might delay the delivery of the goggles where they’re needed most. Just pick a state, pick a hospital, and ship your goggles. Easy as that.

If you’re not sure which state to choose, pick a hospital in your home state, or send them to states with acute needs (New York and California had each requested more than 300 pairs as of this writing). If you still can’t decide, we suggest sending them to places like Massachusetts, Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Vermont. These communities have given all of us the gift of skiing and snowboarding and they need goggles right now. It’s only fitting we help them by giving something back.  

The skiers and snowboarders of Avant Ski are in position to make a real difference, and we hope you’ll join in the fight against COVID-19. Our goal for the Avant Ski community is to donate 50 pairs of goggles. For every pair of goggles you donate, Avant Ski will send you a sticker (pictured above). Slap that sticker on your helmet, skis, or board as a reminder next winter that you helped to make it a reality.

To get your sticker, just take a selfie with your goggles before you donate them and send us the picture (reply to this email and please send your preferred mailing address). We will be posting the best ones on social media to help inspire others to get involved.* 

*And if you don’t want to be internet famous, that’s ok too. Just let us know when you send in your picture. 

P.S. Please share this with your friends and family - the more the merrier!

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