Prosser group donates 500 KN95 masks to Lincoln Hospital

DAVENPORT — A charitable organization from Prosser donated 500 KN95 masks to Lincoln Hospital last week.

Mustangs for Mustangs, a group comprising current and former staff and students from Prosser High School — the Mustangs, in sports — donated 2,500 masks to rural hospitals.

Mustangs for Mustangs is a non-profit emergency assistance organization that provides service for people in the Prosser community. Founder and Director Brett Dillahunt is a history teacher a Prosser High School.

Dillahunt says a former student of his reached out with the idea to help hospitals.

“My student Annie Vo, who worked her way through MIT and graduated from Harvard, contacted me and said she had business contacts in China,” Dillahunt said. “She said she may be able to get her hands on some KN95 masks.”

KN95 masks are the Chinese equivalent of the N95 medical masks.

Vo, and some of her fellow alumni, fundraised enough money to buy and bring 20,000 masks to the U.S. They are being distributed in New Jersey, New York and Washington.

Vo’s group gave Mustangs for Mustangs 2,500 masks to be donated in Washington.

Donating masks to Prosser Memorial Hospital was an easy choice. But it soon became clear they had enough masks to help other rural areas, as well.

A parent of a former student of Dillahunt’s was able to put him in touch with Washington Rural Health Collaborative Executive Director Elya Prystowsky.

She advised Dillahunt on which regional hospitals could most use the masks and Dillahunt decided to donate 500 masks each to Prosser Memorial, Forks Community, Willapa Harbor, Ferry County and Lincoln hospitals.

Dillahunt says helping people outside the Prosser area was a rewarding experience.

“In this particular case, we wanted to be as effective as possible,” Dillahunt said.

“It only made sense to go where the most chronic need was if we actually wanted to protect people and maybe save lives.”