Local brothers raise funds for Doctors Without Borders

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The COVID-19 pandemic took over normal life three months ago, and with the crisis came a lack of medical equipment, face masks and hand sanitizer. Those things have become easier to find in stores now, but Owen and Jack Witt are raising money to send to Doctors Without Borders, hoping to help the countries that still desperately need equipment to fight the coronavirus.

The inspiration for the auction came from the Columbia High School juniors’ uncle, a nurse who experienced the lack of personal protective equipment firsthand.

“If that’s what’s happening in the United States, we can only imagine what’s happening in Third World countries,” Owen Witt said in a phone interview with the News-Record on June 12.

That’s how he and his brother decided to hold an auction for Doctors Without Borders, an organization that sends medical professionals to countries that are experiencing war, disease or disaster to help victims.

The monthlong auction, which can be found at www.32auctions.com/helping-hands, opened June 12 and ends July 13. It’s filled with clothes, hats, bags and even a pool float, all donated. by the brothers, their family, and their friends.

“We can also take small donations,” Jack Witt said in a phone interview with the News-Record on June 12. “We have most of the items, and we can ship them out when it’s over. If we don’t have them, we can get them when things start opening up.”

The choice to donate all the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders was easy, according to Owen Witt.

“We didn’t want to donate to someone trying to sell equipment, because there’s a lack of equipment out there,” he said. “In the U.S. there’s not much we can do, but we can help solve that problem in other places. So it was a pretty easy choice.”

  Columbia High School, COVID-19, FEATURED