Local Chinese communities launch grassroots movement “Stronger When We Are United”

A grassroots organization consisting of Chinese American community leaders, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and retired citizens donating essential supplies to medical personnel and law enforcement to help fight COVID-19

There is no greater force than when people come together and unite to help. A grassroots organization consisting of Chinese American community leaders, doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs has been proactively donating essential supplies to medical personnel and law enforcement to help fight COVID-19.

Hong Li ( 2nd from Right)
Hong Li, an attorney in California, is the leader on behalf of the Beijing Association USA who organized the grassroots movement “Stronger When We Are United” to help doctors, police officers, and other essential workers. Since January, she has helped organize and support fundraisers for Wuhan Coronavirus Relief and raise awareness in the U.S. about the new coronavirus, COVID-19.

Recently, in her neighborhood, Li noticed that there was a shortage of masks for the local police officers. She saw that they were reusing face masks that had been worn so many times the elastic was no longer supporting the masks on their face. Li wanted to do something to help and immediately donated 160 of the N95 9210 respirator masks she had purchased online for her own family’s usage and protection.  However, she wanted to do more to help the people working on the front lines—the doctors, nurses, law enforcement, and other essential workers.

Over three days, Li worked tirelessly to call her friends, family, and business associates to ask them if they could help donate supplies such as N95 respirators, face masks, gloves, and sanitizer. Several senior members of Beijing Association USA, Ms. Helen Xia, Mr. Eric Li, and Ms. Jia Wang, helped with organizing the grassroots donations. They used Xia’s office located in the City of Diamond Bar as a drop off place for the donations of face masks and other supplies— all the while still maintaining the social distancing rule by having the donations be dropped off outside.

The people who donated are all hardworking Chinese Americans, people who are naturalized American citizens, who have lived in the U.S. for over twenty years, and who have a Chinese heritage. With the harmful ripple effects of COVID-19, Chinese Americans have been unjustly targeted against even when they are as American as the definition of the word itself.

With the stock market going into a slump, the stay indoors order, and numerous businesses closing in response to COVID-19, many people could not afford the financial burden of a monetary donation as a further expense. However, people still wanted to help. With doctors and nurses in hospitals across the country facing the growing threat of a lack of adequate personal protective equipment to protect themselves from COVID-19, every single donation could help attenuate the danger felt by medical personnel. Li asked her friends to donate any supplies if they could. Every donation counted, whether it was ten N95 masks or two bottles of hand sanitizer.

No one had a lot of supplies since many things have become difficult to purchase in stores. High demand and price gouging by profit-seeking sellers in the U.S. have made it so that even something that as simple as a bottle of hand sanitizer is nearly impossible to find. Within three days, these Chinese Americans donated the things they had at home that they had purchased with their own money at high prices to protect their own family. They chose kindness instead of fear. They felt a responsibility to help this country and to help humans. By March 31, there have been 3,300 faces masks, 5,500 gloves, five packages of disinfectant, and various other supplies received and already donated to the City of Industry Sheriff’s Station.

Li and her teammates would like to appreciate all the contributors during the current “Shelter In Place” and would like to tell all the people in the United States too, “Please wear a non-medical face covering while in public. Wearing a mask will help prevent people from spreading the virus to each other and help people avoid sickness. Stay at Home and Stay Safe! We Are Stronger When We Are United!”