A Chatsworth toy company announced plans Wednesday to help provide hospitals and health care workers with supplies needed to protect themselves during efforts to fight the worsening coronavirus outbreak.
MGA Entertainment, the company behind the popular "L.O.L. Surprise!" dolls, launched the "Operation: PAC-MAN'' initiative. It includes the donation of $100,000 to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, a partnership with an overseas factory that could fulfill an order for 2 million medical masks, and acquisition of 25,000 masks that will arrive in the United States this week for immediate shipping to three Southern California hospitals, said Isaac Larian, CEO/founder of the company that makes Bratz dolls.
In addition, freight shipper Flexport.org has agreed to airlift, at no charge, an additional 150,000 units of medical supplies procured by MGA, ensuring Southern California hospitals receive them this week, Larian said.
A web page will go online this week for people and retailers who want to donate to the operation, including a link for hospitals or health care workers to request certified and approved supplies for their facility.
Larian said that after filling out the form and verifying the request, MGA will ship supplies for immediate delivery. Priority will be given to hospitals in California, New York and Washington, he said.
"This is not an industry issue or a government issue any longer -- at this point, all of humankind needs to work together and fix the shortage that hospitals are facing, and I believe this issue can best be resolved by entrepreneurs,'' he said.
"The fact that hospitals and hospital workers are lacking basic necessities to safely continue their treatment of patients is tragic,'' Larian said. "It is preposterous that we are in this position, and now it's up to everyone to work together.''
