Dear all,

To be honest, I’ve been worried about COVID since I first started hearing rumors about it from friends and clients in China and Taiwan in December and was planning to return to Asia this March or April for work and to visit friends and family. As many of you know, my real-life job is an “Educational Consultant”- but I try to do it ethically, I don’t photoshop my clients’ pictures and I model my work on the great college counselor I had the privilege of being advised by starting in 9th grade at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan. I’ve been in the business for real since I decided to live in Shanghai in mid-2008 but also did a little informal advising for family friends since I started at Harvard. Since moving back to NYC in the late summer of 2013 to be closer to family and help a bit more since my parents went through it with 8 feet of water in Hurricane Sandy and my dad and second dad (my uncle) were near 80, I’ve formally registered as an LLC (www.ctprepsolutions.com) but my clients are still mostly based in Asia.

I mention that because when 2 of my best friends from college (I did all the pre-med requirements and even took the 10 hour MCAT and worked at big hospitals before deciding the med school path was not for me) wrote our usually light and breezy WhatsApp chat and sounded an unsolicited alarm that they were scared because they didn’t have enough masks, I knew I had to try to ask my friends in Asia if I could get them some basic supplies. Because social media is what it is, I got involved in this Go Fund Me that I may have already spammed you about- www.amillionmasks.org- as the Director of Partnerships… and I haven’t really slept much since but my dearest retired RN mom keeps me well fed and forces me to rest and hydrate. So, I’m fine and I’ll be fine but many of the people I and those I love care most about in this world- who are like sisters, second mothers, aunties, and uncles, etc. still feel like they are under siege.

I feel so fortunate to call CNAs, Nurses, Doctors, EMTs, Firemen/women, Policemen/women, MTA employees, Sanitation employees, Grocery Store Workers, Restaurant Owners/ Workers, etc. part of my people. Since I helped try to fundraise for and buy masks directly to get to our nurse and doctor heroes I’ve realized that so many people I love are considered “essential” workers and they are most certainly essential to me and my family. Thus, I’ve decided to focus more of my time on helping them directly. I’m still supporting all my new best friends, whom I will forever be indebted to, on the A Million Masks team, but am now focusing on trying to drive more direct donations through this new Go Fund Me.

I’m trying to raise money to make “care packages” with the items our friends, family, and other contacts have told us they desperately need:

1. N95 or KN95 Masks
2. Surgical Masks
3. Latex or Vinyl Gloves
4. Face Shields
5. Gowns

According to our most recent price quotes and orders, each care package will cost around $30 including shipping/ delivery. And of course, I’d love to get more to frontline workers so if you know of anyone who wants to donate other useful items, please let me know. 

I’m working on a more formal request form, but if there is someone you’d like to get on my radar, please message me here for now. I promise I’ll get my supplies out as fast as I can. 

 Thank you for reading and stay safe out there!


All the best,

Christina Traugott

St. Francis de Sales, the Rockaways, Class of 1996
Convent of the Sacred Heart, Class of 2000
Harvard College, Class of 2004
Proud daughter of a hospice RN and former Maryknoll Missionary and social worker and current volunteer hospital chaplain at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, the only hospital left in the Rockaways
Proud granddaughter of an FDNY Lieutenant and A&P grocery store employee on my dad’s side and fisherman and tirelessly working homemaker on my mom’s side