Silicon Valley donation program picks up medical supplies from your front porch

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Members of the community are stepping up by donating much needed medical supplies to first responders. And now a new program in Santa Clara County aims to help by picking them up from your porch.

Tony Guan of Sunnyvale was worried that supplies of masks and gloves were running low and that first responders would be left unprotected.

"So that made me make up my mind that we really need to take action now," Guan said.

He and 17 friends began reaching out, trying to source masks in China.

They delivered 800 to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety already. They're expecting a shipment of 8000 at the end of the week.

"We are not asking donations. We are just doing it because we want to do it. We want to help," he said. 

Officers in Sunnyvale say the support has been overwhelming, that community members had been stopping by continually with donations.

Capt. Craig Anderson with the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety says, "That was what was going on. Now I think we're trying to be a little bit more careful about physical contact."

In fact, a new program called Porch Pickup2020 aims to help with that.

It was launched by a group of nurses and American Medical Response, the ambulance provider for Santa Clara County and they'll come to you.

Doug Petrick, regional director for American Medical Response says, "We'll send somebody out to pick it up directly from your porch. We're not asking you to be out handing it to us, we prefer not to have person to person contact."

But they are in dire need of supplies like disposable gowns, masks, gloves, wipes, hand santizer, goggles and face shields.

They plan to distribute them to the first responders most in need. And they say every donation helps

Tony Guan says he and his friends are happy to do their part.

"If we can prevent one person from getting the virus, that's worth it," Guan said.

When it comes to the porch pickup donations, they say no amount is too small, but they do ask that the items all be in their original packaging.

If you have a donation, email PorchPickup2020@gmail.com. Please list your name, address and the items you're donation. Pickups will be done on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Santa Clara County.