About Us
Hi, I’m Peter Pangolin, the official mascot here at Pandemic Pal. I’m a pangolin because some scientists believe the coronavirus started in pangolins and spread to people. But hey, don’t blame me! The only reason y’all are dealing with this BS is because some dodohead decided it was a good idea to eat a pangolin. WTF? Do we look tasty at all? Stick to tofu, humans!
Now we’ve got that out of the way, you probably want to know more about this website and who is behind it. Well, it was founded by Karin Willison, a writer and disability advocate with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair. You can learn more about Karin on her blog.
Karin and lots of other people with disabilities realized that even though medical supplies are being set aside for healthcare workers and people at risk, they’re only going to certain healthcare workers — those working at hospitals. Meanwhile, far too many essential workers are being forgotten. Home health aides, personal care attendants, direct support professionals, and others working primarily in private homes can’t get the supplies they need to stay safe. People with disabilities and chronic illnesses need to protect themselves and the people who care for them just as much as hospitals need to protect their workers. So what could they do?
Luckily, Karin was working on another website and discovered a program that can automatically compile a list of items available at all different stores across the web. She realized this could be used to help people find medical supplies and cleaning supplies that are actually in stock and available to buy. She quickly put her other project on hold and built this website with the help of a few friends.
Whether you’re a person with a disability or chronic condition, a healthcare worker, a grocery store clerk, janitor, delivery driver, or anyone else at high risk for COVID-19, we hope you’ll find the supplies you need to stay safe here.
If you’re a person with a chronic illness or disability and you make pandemic-related items like masks or hand sanitizer, we want to feature your products! Fill out the form here to apply.