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Skiers donating goggles to hospitals

The pandemic cut the ski season short this year, but resorts all across the country are still putting a certain piece of skiing equipment to good use.

CARBON COUNTY, Pa. — Back in January, skiers probably never would have dreamed that one of the pieces of ski equipment they're sporting would wind up on the faces of health care workers in the middle of a global pandemic.

But that's exactly what's happened.

Ski resorts all over the country are collecting new and used ski goggles as part of a project called Goggles for Docs.

"Once we get those goggles, we find the hospitals most in need in our area, and then deliver those directly to the hospitals," said AJ Stack, a Camelback Resort employee.

It started when a ski resort manager in Massachusetts learned of the need for eye protection at a New York City hospital.

The project quickly snowballed and has since reached the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, including Blue Mountain, Shawnee, and Camelback.

"Before we closed, we were all kind of joking around about it. We were like, 'Our sport has goggles and masks already.' You wear gloves every day, you wear your goggles, your mask, and you're good to go for skiing. So then, people kind of took that, and we're like, 'Wait a minute, this is actually something here.' It's not just a joke anymore; we can really help."

It's not just big ski resorts that are stepping up.

Ski instructor Anna Lee Simpson set up a Goggles for Docs drop-off location right outside of her home in Albrightsville.

"We ship them overnight. That's the key part is that we ship them overnight so that they'll have the gear immediately until something better comes up. Obviously, the protective gear ideally would be what they normally use," Simpson said.

Since the trails are closed, and the warm weather is on its way, most skiers have put away their goggles for the season, so Simpson says now is the perfect time to find a new use for them.

"They're already here, they're already made, and everybody has three or four pairs of goggles around their house if they're a ski instructor, or a snowboard instructor, or a skier or a rider," said Simpson.

So far, more than 38,000 goggles have been donated. You can find a drop-off location at the Goggles for Docs website.

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