St. Luke’s Allentown Campus has donated 1,000 headsets to Francis D. Raub Middle School in the Allentown School District to improve the experience of remote learning while students are at home because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The first batch of headsets was distributed outdoors to students Nov. 21 at Raub’s Annual “Fall Fest.” Principal José M. Delgado and several volunteers, included the headsets with meal boxes that were included turkeys and $8,000 in meal products to more than 100 students and their families for the Thanksgiving holiday.

“St. Luke’s continues to be a strong partner of Raub Middle School,” said Delgado.

“Now that the students are all learning remotely, our community school director, Jaclyn Hudak, and myself wanted to provide every student with a pair of headphones with microphones for virtual learning. This way, when they’re on zoom, they can speak with confidence and confidentiality,” Delgado said.

“When they don’t have the right resources, they’re apprehensive to share certain things,” Hudak said.

“We don’t know their home situation, so for example, if an outreach worker is giving them advice on how to handle certain challenges while there, they may not necessarily want anyone else in the home hearing that information or general dialogue,” said Hudak.

Initially, the all-volunteer St. Luke’s Allentown Development Committee was planning to help offset the cost as a group. However, Bill Moyer, President of the Allentown Campus, quickly approved the purchase of 1,000 pairs of headsets, an investment of approximately $2,200, on behalf of the committee and the St. Luke’s Allentown Campus.

“It’s a necessity, and the right thing to do,” Moyer said.

“This is a wonderful illustration of the power of partnerships and collaboration in Allentown. It highlights a sense of unity throughout the community to ensure local patients’ and families’ most basic needs are met, addressing challenges that COVID-19 only exacerbated,” said Moyer.

“Though we are socially distant, we can still come together in creative ways to continue providing for our friends, families and neighbors. This is another fine example of how the Allentown Community is continuing to be mindful of what it cares most about: each other. At St. Luke’s Allentown, we care for our patients from their first days of life to middle school and beyond,” Moyer said.