Villanova University Supports Frontline Workers with Donations

Villanova University is supporting the local community with donations of personal protective equipment (PPE). The University is also donating tulips as a show of appreciation to health care workers.

Villanova compiled more than 30,000 pairs of gloves, 600 safety goggles and glasses, along with Tyvek and hazmat suits, sanitizing wipes, face shields, masks and disposable lab coats. The PPE was donated to Main Line Health and the Philadelphia Organization of Health Professions Students, which donates the equipment to frontline healthcare workers.

“Villanova is so grateful for the frontline workers and first responders who are risking their own lives to save others," said Amanda Grannas, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Chemistry. "Donating the PPE we had available on campus was one small way we could help play a role in fighting this pandemic. The response on campus was overwhelming."

In addition, Villanova’s Office of Sustainability partnered with Main Line Health to donate 1,200 tulips from their annual fundraiser to health care workers. The tulips were grown in the University’s campus garden, the Villanova Consortium for Agricultural Research and Education (VCARE). Pre-sales of the flowers have been converted into donations for student summer research in VCARE.

We are so pleased that these flowers are able to brighten someone’s day—that’s why we grow them in the first place," said Liesel Schwarz, Villanova's Sustainability Manager. "To know that the flowers are now bringing some happiness to those working the hardest to keep us all safe is more than we could ever ask for.”