CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Nov. 27 (PIA)--Heeding the need for personal protective equipment and other protective gear for coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 frontliners, The Join together Society (JTS) provided P4.35 million worth of supplies to Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), November 23.

"JTS President Won Joo Lee asked us to find facilities that need help in the Philippines. We have known that NMMC really needs the PPE because there are higher cases of COVID-19 in the hospital. We asked what brand of PPEs that NMMC needs but they did not specify. So we decided to get the high quality PPEs in Korea," JTS Libona Center Head Shi-Hyeon Park said.

JTS donated 3,500 pieces of PPE suits, surgical masks (20,000), N95 masks (10,000), face shields (5,000), disposable gloves in pairs (20,000), powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) (10), PAPR hood (50), and PAPR filter (400).

"Kami dinhi sa Northern Mindanao Medical Center nagpasalamat sa JTS Korea nga naghatag sa ato ug libre nga mga PPE. Makatabang kini sa atong mga frontliners, mga doctors, nurses nga natrabaho, nag-duty sa atong COVID areas para maprotektahan sila while nagsilbi sila sa mga pasyente nato nga COVID," NMMC Chief Dr. Jose Chan said.

(We at Northern Mindanao Medical Center are thankful to JTS Korea that provided us with free PPEs. These can really help our frontliners--doctors, nurses who work in our COVID areas so they can be protected while serving COVID patients.)

The group is also set to provide protective gear to Bukidnon that include 2,000 pieces of PPE suits, surgical masks (1,900), N95 masks (3,600), face shields (3,500), disposable gloves (11,000), 70 percent alcohol (650 gallons), and thermal scanners (150).

JTS is a non-government and charitable organization headquartered in Korea and with operations in the Philippines, specifically in Mindanao.

They began operating in Mindanao in 2003, a year after its founder received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding.

In 2018, JTS was conferred the Fr William Masterson Award by Xavier University for its "commitment to combat hunger, sickness, and illiteracy and for their outstanding service to many far-flung areas in Mindanao fostering the growth and empowerment of communities to bring about sustainable change."

JTS has already helped build 53 school buildings across several provinces in Mindanao. It has also built health centers, dormitories, school for special education, among others. JTS is quick to respond to calls for help in times of calamities, wars, and epidemic/pandemic. (RTP/PIA10)