Several times throughout the year, Collin County Moms features a local non-profit organization that assists moms and/or families in need. We love the opportunity to spotlight how local families can help out through volunteering, donating time or money and more, right in our own community. We try to pick organizations that our contributors know and volunteer for personally, and are eager to share the needs of our friends and neighbors throughout Collin County.
Owner and founder Crystella Mcivor’s mission is to support the local medical community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Support Our Scrubs (SOS) is a non-profit organization founded at the start of the pandemic to provide support and help to our frontline medical heroes. They have been working diligently to provide meals, care baskets, PPE, treats, drinks, snacks, thank-you letters, self-care items, gifts, etc., to local hospitals to let them know that their community cares about and supports them. Thanks to our INCREDIBLE community, Support Our Scrubs have had a small part in helping to coordinate over 20,000 meals, care baskets, PPE, gifts, cards, snacks, etc.
“We continually hear from our frontline medical workers that they are in dire need of help. For almost a year now, our medical staff has worked tirelessly, caring for patients with a disease that has claimed so many lives, lives that doctors and nurses could not save. With hospitals reaching maximum capacity again, the staff feels stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted.”
As the holidays are approaching, there is no better time to show our support and appreciation for our frontline medical workers. We kindly ask for your generosity and help us make as many nurses, doctors, or healthcare staff feel special, appreciated, valued, and acknowledged.
Now, Support Our Scrubs even wants kids to get involved in the mission: writing encouraging letters of hope and thank-you notes to the first hospital workers who are unsung heroes of 2020.
We sat down with Crystella (virtually) to check in with her mission, how she’s doing, and where she sees a dovetail of the influencer space and the medical workers who need kindness and a little bit of love this holiday season.
Why did you feel called to help start this mission?
At the start of this pandemic, as the mother of a nurse serving on the frontline, I was seeing the unprecedented challenges and desperate needs that our healthcare heroes are facing. I was determined to turn my initial feelings of uncertainty and concern for the health and well-being of not only my daughter, but of each of the brave men and women that are stepping up on behalf of our communities, nation, and our entire globe, into finding solutions, support, and helping in any way that I can.
How can Collin County Moms and readers get involved?
As a growing non-profit, any and all exposure to bring awareness to our cause is invaluable. Please follow Support Our Scrubs on social media (see the links below) and get involved in any way you can.
Know a restaurant owner? We partner with restaurants and businesses and ask that they would be able to donate free or discounted meals. We will ensure that 100% of everything donated goes directly to help those most in need! We can also often partner with preferred hospitals/facilities people might want to support.
The Needs:
Meals, care baskets, drinks, snacks, fruit, treats, thank-you letters/cards, self-care or gift items
Any simple acts of kindness and generosity let them know we care and appreciate them.
Can kids get involved?
Yes! Regulations and protocol does not allow for any of us to enter the hospitals, but we can certainly send thank-you cards, letters, small gifts, and snacks.
Kiddos could also make short thank you videos. We compile and share those with hospitals and on our Faces Of The Frontlines Facebook pages.
If anyone in the ISD is reading this, we would love to partner with some school districts, teachers, or art teachers to help with this mission/initiative!
Hospital staff are GREATLY ENCOURAGED BY COMMUNITY SUPPORT! They usually share these handwritten treasures in break rooms and on poster boards where they can see when times are tough and spirits are low!
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an NPO?
That is a difficult question! The challenges we have faced are more than I can count, but as the quote goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I have found that in life, more often than not, when attempting new things, or embarking on, we are often faced with challenges.
Finding and providing medical-grade PPE, challenging/difficult people, ‘naysayers’, time delays due to COVID-19 in setting up the non-profit organization, learning entirely new skills, and finding strength I never knew I had. Every single day I am learning something new and hoping to do better today that I did yesterday.
Learn more about Support Our Scrubs
Website ::Twitter :: PayPal :: GoFundMe :: Facebook :: Instagram
Sign Up As Partner/Participant
Support Our Scrubs will gladly provide you or your business with a tax-deductible monetary or in-kind donation receipt. Please feel free to reach out with any questions and/or donations. Their team will coordinate all donations, drop-off/pick-up times, dates, numbers, and any additional coordination needed.
