A construction industry drive for personal protection equipment, or PPE, will be held for the Healthcare Association of Hawaii Friday at the state Capitol between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Donations of N95 masks, surgical masks and other PPE masks, including homemade ones, can be dropped off at the Father Damien Statue.

The N95 respirator is commonly used in the construction trade to protect lungs from damaging particulates found in concrete dust, for example. It is also used in the medical field.

“The construction business is booming in Hawaii but the healthcare providers need (the masks) even more,” said Nani Medeiros, executive director of HomeAid Hawaii, a nonprofit that is urging the industry to give up their spare gear for the greater good.

All donations will go to the state’s dwindling stockpile of medical equipment at the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Friday’s event is co-sponsored by state Lt. Gov. Josh Green and comedian Augie T.

For more information, call Jack James at 386-8608.