The Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (IL-CHEP) is delivering 100 gallons of hand sanitizer to Lincoln Correctional Center for distribution to those who are incarcerated, as well as those working in the prison system. They have contracted a distillery in Peoria for production. From the press release:
“Prisons simply don’t have the capacity to implement the CDC’s social distancing protocols. I and other educators are deeply concerned about the well-being of our students, of course, and also of other incarcerated individuals and prison staff. COVID-19 in prisons presents a public health crisis. To alleviate it, the best course of action would be to release more people, which is something that IL-CHEP has been advocating for weeks. We’re grateful to be working with IDOC to meet the immediate need of distributing enough hand sanitizer so that we can provide it to every prison cell in Illinois,” said Rebecca Ginsburg, Education Justice Project Director and IL-CHEP representative.
Ginsburg continued: “Hand sanitizer alone is not enough to curb the spread of COVID-19, but it is one of the many precautions we can take in protecting incarcerated individuals.”
IL-CHEP is also calling on Governor Pritzker to release the elderly and other high risk individuals.
If you are interested in donating to the effort, you can do so here.
Photo from IL-CHEP Facebook page.