SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Rotary club, in conjunction with the Ballston Spa Rotary club, donated healing hand cream to the Saratoga Hospital.
The healing hand cream was donated to the ER and ICU departments earlier this week. Linda LeTendre, member of the BHBL rotary club, said the donation was made to recognize the working conditions front line workers face while caring for COVID-19 patients.
“This is something not a lot people have thought about and it’s a way to say: ‘we see you, we know it’s tough and we really see what you are doing.’” We do appreciate what they’re doing,” LeTendre said.
The healing hand cream was donated to nurses and doctors at the Saratoga Hospital on April 16. Medical personnel in those departments have to wash their hands so often they are experiencing dry, cracked and painful hands. LeTendre said her friend, Lisa Cole, was the inspiration behind the healing hand cream. Cole is a nurse at the Samaritan Hospital in Troy.
“It never dawned on me, but if you wash your hands a lot, they begin to crack and break,” LeTendre said. “That lets infection in. Your skin is your first line of defense against infection. It holds all your body parts in but it keeps stuff out…it keeps infection out.
Cole also works as a local Mary Kay consultant, who sells the healing hand cream. LeTendre said she purchased the hand cream at no cost from Cole.
“They’re scrubbing their hands raw in this pandemic,” LeTendre said.
To date, LaTendre said 55 tubes would be donated. On Friday, members of the rotary club will donate hand cream to the Ballston Lake Emergency Squad. They donated ten tubes of the hand cream to the hospital and the remaining 45 tubes will be divided between the two.
“I said to myself I would do this. I put out my own money out first, and then asked if anyone wanted to be a part of this,” LeTendre said.
She added that the donations made covered more than her initial donation, and she hopes it continues.
“[Cole] is selling this at no cost, this is her way of giving back,” LeTendre said.
