Cancer survivor donates supplies to Children’s Hospital of Georgia

Jack Trude was watching the news when he was struck by something Vice President Mike Pence said.

Pence made a request of construction companies around the country to donate respirator masks to local hospitals.

As a 17-year employee of Reeves Construction, Trude felt he had to act.

“I’m homebound and a little fragile myself,” he said. Trude has been battling lung cancer, having had surgery to remove parts of his lungs in 2011 and 2018.

The 61-year-old from Appling has appointments in Augusta every day because of his condition, though, and decided that Wednesday, March 18, would be a good one to donate to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia.

After speaking with his superior, Trude gathered up hundreds of masks and other supplies and brought them down to the hospital, where they were gratefully accepted by Jonathan Goolsby, supply chain logistics manager for Augusta University Health.

While AU Health System leadership assures our facilities have the necessary number of supplies, donations are appreciated to protect our staff as they continue to work to keep our patients healthy.

Trude said he chose an AU Health System hospital because of the organization’s curbside and drive-thru services to test for COVID-19.

“We picked you out of the crowd,” he said. “We just want to do our due diligence. Safety is No. 1 for us.”

We would also like to thank the following companies for donating:

• Harbor Freight and Home Depot (personal protective equipment)
• KaMin Performance Minerals (N95 masks)
• Venator Pigments (N95 masks, shoe covers, hair nets, disposable lab coats)
• Home Depot (N95 masks)

If you would like to help the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, monetary donations are always appreciated. Most public fundraisers have been canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Children’s is a not-for-profit institution that relies on donations.

For additional donations, contact Jonathan Goolsby.