Highlights:
From March 27 when the project was initiated, to April 2nd when the face shields were received by Maryland, donors efficiently completed a series of complex procedures including supply identification, fundraising, and transportation coordination within 5 days!
Surprisingly, such a huge donation is not from large charitable organizations, but a group of caring Chinese parents and enthusiastic John Hopkins professors.
Only by protecting medical workers can we protect our children
“Having scared by the virus myself, I want to better protect medical workers who are fighting against the virus. Only if they are safe can Maryland be safe, and can our children there be safe. Only if they are well protected can they be more effective taking care of other people. ” said Ms. Yin, the initiator of the donation, also the mother of William, a JHU undergraduate.
It all started from Ms. Yin’s elder son’s brush with COVID-19.
The elder son of Ms. Yin, an excellent student at Stanford University, told his mother on March 23 that he had mild symptoms of potential COVID-19 infection.
As Chinese saying goes, a mother always worries about her traveling child, not to mention that it is during this difficult time when the cunning and fierce virus is rampant. Ms. Yin was very anxious.
Meanwhile, hearing about this news, Ms. Yin ’s friends and other JHU parents immediately sent helpful materials, self-protection and self-treatment information. Phone calls expressing concerns, providing comfort and advice came one after another. “I was very touched. The care and love calmed me down quickly.” Ms. Yin said.
After calming down, Ms. Yin first contacted a testing company in the United States and sent her son a testing kit. The teenager at that time was so weak that he was lethargic, and unable to answer the phone calls.
Someone persuaded Ms. Yin to bring her child back to China, and Ms. Yin calmly refused: “I didn’t want the child to carry the virus all the way back and infect others, nor did I want him to quit his studies at Stanford.”
Finally, the boy was able to open the door and got tested, with a relieving negative result. In the following days, the teenager gradually recovered.
However, this experience of getting threatened reminded Ms. Yin to act to fight against the epidemic.
Thank God for your kindness, let us pass on our love together
Destiny always arranges some well-intentioned coincidences. On March 22nd, some parents and friends introduced Ms. Yin to Prof. Honggang Cui of John Hopkins. He was helping to transport the domestically donated face masks to the United States.
Prof. Cui told Ms. Yin that the medical staff at Hopkins Hospital lacked protective materials and needed face shields.
Why are the face shields important? “The face shields can effectively block the droplets and prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Dr. Xiuyun Liu from the Department of Critical and Anesthesia at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said in an interview. “The demand for personal protective equipment during the outbreak is massive. What used to last for a month can now only sustain a week. This donation came right in time. ”
Therefore, Ms. Yin decided to raise funds to donate face shields to Hopkins.
Prof. Cui supported her by donating himself, and fundraising and coordinating among Johns Hopkins faculty. Ms. Yin, at the same time, decided to match all donations 1: 1, in order to encourage more people to donate, and to meet an order large enough to get prioritized by manufacturers for guaranteed supply. That is, for every dollar raised, she would donate an additional one dollar. The goal was to donate 10,000 masks.
The two took actions right away. “Organizing donations is very difficult,” Prof. Cui said. “Since the outbreak, many people intended to help Johns Hopkins Hospital, but they struggled to find a channel to donate. They also didn’t know what medical supplies to donate that can meet Johns Hopkins ‘standard. I supported Ms. Yin ’s idea of donating face shields, which were in urgent need. When I told my colleagues at JHU about the fundraising, everyone was enthusiastic and responded positively.”
The temporary but powerful team came together for a common goal!
Ms. Yin only called for donations in a single group chat, but the parents actively publicized these in their network. They quickly gathered 41 donors on March 28.
Ms. Zhang, whose son is pursuing a Ph.D. in biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, “We were in the JHU parent group and witnessed the worsening pandemic. We desired to do something for JHU. When hearing about Mr. Yin’s face shield donation plan, I signed up immediately. Her offering of 1: 1 matching donation impressed me, so I reached out to more people. Although donors never knew each other or ever met before, everyone provided strong support and I am very grateful. ”Ms. Zhang was responsible for shipping logistics, and supervision over the donation working group to ensure authenticity.
Together with Ms. Zhang, Ms. Yu, whose children graduated from JHU with his bachelor degree in 2019, was also supervising all donations. She was responsible for verifying donation, accounting, and collecting donor information. “I am not a careful person but I had to be responsible for everyone. Everyone’s contribution must be faithfully recorded. Having witnessed the tragedy of frontline medical staff without protection during COVID-19 in China, I wanted to make a difference. All the trouble and hard work are not worth mentioning. Diana (Ms. Yin) did the hardest work! She asked the working group to be efficient and accurate. To the donors, she was transparent about all her decisions and reasons behind them. It is her determination and strict standard that drive the quick completion of the donation. “Ms. Yu said.
For each donation, Mr. Yin would verify the specific number and payment details with the donor and announced them in the group to ensure the transparency of the entire process. In addition, the working group clearly declared all product details, qualifications of vendor and manufactures, prices, contracts, shipping, payment, and other logistics, as well as promptly reported any progress or changes, thus gaining everyone’s trust. There were some twists and turns in the transportation process, but no one ever pushed the team. Everyone supported the team silently.
“People are always wary of interacting with strangers, and gaining trust is not an easy task. However, this donation has shortened the distance between people and lowered the threshold of building mutual trust. Although not knowing each other, the full confidence in the working group enable things to go smoothly and efficiently. ”Prof. Cui said.
There was a time when the news of the customs embargo scared everyone into cold sweat. Fortunately, after verification, they found that it was only about strengthening export regulations, and not a real embargo. But this frightening experience put a sense of urgency upon everyone. When people including the suppliers learned that these goods were rushed to the medical staff in the US, who lacked protection, they stepped up work day and night, constantly contacting and reviewing manufacturers, negotiating prices, Production and packaging, and negotiate with many logistics companies. The Hopkins supply chain department first confirmed that the product details met the requirements, and then communicated with the Legal Department to sign a Waiver of Liability to reassure all donors.
All work was carried out in an orderly and clean manner. After 2 days of forming the donation group, on March 30, 10,000 face masks were departed from China to John Hopkins!
However, shipping the goods was only the first step, and many uncertainties remained before reaching Hopkins.
“I tracked shipping status every day and reported to the group. Sometimes I reported twice a day. To ensure accuracy, every time I entered the order number, I asked Ms. Yin to verify it again. My son sometimes helped to check the order. I was afraid that there could be errors if tracking from China. I asked him to check it again on the JHU side. I was always afraid of errors. “Ms. Zhang said.
TOUCH DOWN!
Maryland confirmed receipt!
On April 2, 8,000 of the 10,000 masks sent from China arrived at Johns Hopkins Hospital. On April 6, all the remaining 2,000 arrived.
Love without borders, this is the spirit of the Johns Hopkins community
Ms. Yin took his youngest son William to prestigious schools such as MIT, Harvard when he was 15. However, William soon determined to go to Hopkins. One of the reasons was that William saw that JHU students were all in groups of three to five, showing very good team spirit.
This donation further shows that the unity and cooperation of the JHU community is not limited to students– parents are also connected with JHU.
Some parents donated RMB after donating US dollars, even if they are not wealthy. In addition to donating money, the three parents in the working group also stayed up late every night after work to calculate donations, verify the amount, and verify donor information.
Ms. Yin commented, “Parents are active and generous, and I am very grateful. Facing the disaster, they showed the glory of humanity, which moved me deeply. I think the JHU community, guided by these professors, all students and parents have a kind heart of saving people like the doctors. I believe that JHU students will carry this loving kindness with them and spread it wherever they go. ”
Parents are also very grateful to Ms. Yin. “Yin is a super waitress serving parents!” They often expressed care about Ms. Yin’s health and said “You work hard day and night. Please remember to take some rest.” , Special times, Good health comes first! ”
Ms. Yin said that some people at that time were resentful of the previous sarcasm against the Chinese from media outlets overseas, and did not understand her fundraising behavior. Ms. Yin always responded, “They said those words because at that time they did not understand the virus. We must forgive them what they should not say when they are ignorant. It is important to save lives now. Every life is worthy of respect. Humans must jointly deal with the virus and let go of differences in race, nationality and face.”
postscript:
Just before the reporter’s deadline, Ms. Yin told us that their story is not over yet, ” the father of Xuan in New Jersey, not only donated to Johns Hopkins University with us, but also for other Chinese. The association supports multiple hospitals in New Jersey. ”
“The loving parents of Johns Hopkins students, we are willing to work for your love.”