WHY IT RATES: With the Palazzo and Venetian shuttered in Las Vegas, parent company Las Vegas Sands continues to pay some 10,000 furloughed Team Members and provide full health-care benefits, and has just announced a fresh donation of two millions pieces of personal protective equipment to support the work of those battling coronavirus on the ground in New York and Nevada. - Laurie Baratti, TravelPulse Associate Writer
Las Vegas Sands today announced it will donate two million medical masks and 20,000 protective suits to help health-care professionals, first responders and nonprofit organizations in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Medical mask donations will be distributed in the company's corporate headquarters of Nevada as well as New York, which has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Each state will receive one million masks. The 20,000 protective suits will be donated to hospitals and first responders in Nevada.
"Hopefully our donations will help protect people on the front lines so they can continue their invaluable work, and we can start to see the numbers of people affected begin to diminish," Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon G. Adelson said. "Our properties in Las Vegas may be empty right now, but our hearts are full of hope for the future. The determination and courage I have seen in our Team Members, which I know is the same throughout this country, gives me every confidence we will get through this unprecedented crisis."
This contribution marks the second round of personal protective equipment donations Sands has made. The company previously provided 100,000 masks to the Las Vegas health-care community and 5,000 masks to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. It also donated 1,900 coronavirus test kits to the state of Nevada.
Mr. Adelson said the one million masks being sent to New York will help health-care professionals and first responders in the state currently with the most cases of coronavirus.
"People are looking to New York as a bellwether for what comes next, both in terms of the pandemic's impact and for how quickly the region, particularly New York City, is able to recover from the aftermath of the virus," he said. "It's important we steer resources to the places where the need is the greatest and most urgent."
In addition to the protective gear donations, Sands is fulfilling its pledge to give $250,000 to several important local organizations during this time of need. The company is making contributions to 'Three Square', Southern Nevada's largest hunger-relief organization; 'Communities In Schools', which is helping provide meals to students who would otherwise be participating in their school's free and subsidized meal programs; and 'Share Village Las Vegas', a veterans assistance organization that also runs a community food pantry.
Sands also has donated 60 pallets of food and more than 55,000 bottles of water to local organizations. In addition, the company is currently paying each of its nearly 10,000 Las Vegas Team Members, along with providing full health-care benefits, while its properties remain closed.
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