Aware of the devastating and disproportionate impact COVID-19 is having on the Black community, the local chapter of a prominent Black men’s group is helping with resources like masks and hand sanitizer, where to seek financial relief and also the opportunity to join an innovative study for those at higher risk that will offer them free testing.

The 100 Black Men of Augusta will kick off three months of outreach with the COVID-19 Community Tour beginning Saturday at a barbershop in North Augusta, hoping to reach people in greater need of those resources, said Dr. Justin X. Moore, assistant professor in the AU Department of Public Health Science. His research early in the pandemic highlighted the heavy toll the pandemic was having in certain counties in Georgia with larger minority populations, fewer health resources and higher rates of poverty.