Our frontline medical staff and workers are in dire need of PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) while risking their lives fighting the COVID-19 battle for all of us. Without protecting them, we cannot win this COVID-19 battle!
Many people and communities see the dire needs of the medical staff. Multiple Chinese organizations stepped up and rally together to help: Columbus Chinese Community (CCC), The Columbus Chinese Physicians Association(CCPA), Columbus Chinese Christian Church (CCCC), and Wuhan University Ohio Alumni Association (WUOAA) have collected donations of over $100,000, and have donated a total of 81,000 surgical masks, 6,800 N95 masks, 23,000 gloves, and 300 gowns to over two dozens of hospitals, county emergency Management Centers, nursing homes and police stations in Columbus.
One of the Chinese grass root organizations is the Columbus Chinese Community (CCC). CCC has been organizing fund raising drives, sourcing medical masks and gloves, and delivering to hospitals and primary care offices nonstop the last 3 weeks. The core volunteers started a fundraiser on GoFundMe on March 21, 2020. Thanks to the overwhelming support from the community, they’ve collected over $48,000 donations. Among the volunteers, one group of people working feverishly looking for, evaluating, and sourcing PPE supplies both within the US and globally. They expedited the samples, verified the quality and placed orders speedily, often leveraging their personal networks all over the country and around the globe. The second group of over 2 dozens of volunteers focuses on actively contacting local hospitals, medical facilities, nursing homes and nearby county EMOs (Emergency Management Office) to confirm their needs, and deliver the much needed PPEs to them. Another group of over 40 CCC volunteers started making cloth masks when the government recommended that the public should wear masks. Sunny, The Owner of Sunny’s Tailoring & Alternations in Dublin has been making masks and donated over 150 cloth masks to the community. Now she and a few friends are leading a group of avid volunteers to make cloth masks for local nursing homes, police stations and rehabilitation facilities. Another 300 cotton masks are to be delivered in the coming week.
In addition to the efforts from the Columbus Chinese Community (CCC) mentioned above, other local organizations, the Columbus Chinese Physicians Association (CCPA), Columbus Chinese Christian Church (CCCC), and Wuhan University Ohio Alumni Association (WUOAA) all started fundraising drives and collected around $25,000, $16,000 and $8,000 respectively. They have also been working avidly in procuring the PPEs and donating to the local hospitals and EMOs. Columbus Chinese Christian Church (CCCC) is also planning to apply additional funding to expand their support in their fight against COVID-19 to food banks, blood drive facilities and to the poor and the in-need.
Since the start of the pandemic, these organizations worked closely with one another offering and coordinating dozens of volunteers delivering much needed PPEs to over two dozen of hospitals and medical facilities, including COPC (Central Ohio Primary Care), OSU Wexner Medical Center, St Ann Hospital in Westerville, Dublin Methodist Hospital, Franklin County EMHS, Delaware County Emergency Management, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Riverside hospital, Trinity Nursing Home, Heartland Nursing Home, and Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare etc. More PPEs are on the way to Columbus. Once arrived, they will be donated to places that need them the most in the next few weeks.
WUOAA also connected Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital with OSU Wexner Medical Center and promoted information exchange. WUOAA facilitated an online meeting for OSU doctors with doctors in Wuhan to consult on COVID-19 diagnosis, patient treatment and public health management. This timely knowledge share is priceless and helps OSU doctors in their battle against the pandemic tremendously.
Local Chinese restaurants are also joining the effort to support the medical staff when they fight the battle against COVID-19 by making and donating lunches to medical staff for free. Restaurants like Blue Ginger, Tiger+Lily, Amazing Wok, Restaurant Silla and happy house etc. have been donating and delivering food to OSU Medical Center. In addition, Blue ginger supported police stations and clinics in Dublin area in March. The restaurants have donated a total of around 300 meals for free the last three weeks (value of $3,000) to medical staff that works in the frontline treating COVID patients, and they will continue their effort in supporting the healthcare workers in April and May.
In this difficult time, it is the diversity and strength of our community that makes central Ohio strong. The Chinese community comes together in times of crisis. Multiple organizations have been working closely together supporting our medical staff and local community in the fight COVID-19. In face of adversity when it was wrongfully called a Chinese Virus, Chinese community focuses on contributing to the community by going above and beyond instead of being intimidated and frustrated. We are a valued component of this melting pot culture and this is our country to fight for, and this is our home to protect!
If you’d like to join their effort, please donate by visiting CCC fundraiser on GoFundMe at
Together We Fight Covid19 organized by Columbus Chinese Community
