Local Nonprofit Donates 80,000 Masks from China to Community

As the nation faces shortages of personal protective equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic, the general public has been urged to give and donate in whatever they can.

Here in the Triangle, one local nonprofit has gone above and beyond in their donation efforts.

The Chinese American Friendship Association, otherwise known as CAFA, has gone to great measures to provide PPE to local medical centers, law enforcement agencies, senior centers and grocery stores.

The nonprofit, 500 members strong, came together to raise over $100,000 dollars in a matter of two to three weeks.

But after raising the money, purchasing the supplies to donate proved difficult due to the heavy shortages of PPE in local markets. So CAFA had to think outside the box and get help from outside of our nation, buying the masks from China.

Xilong Zhao is a resident of Chapel Hill and a part of the CAFA leadership team. Zhao said, after the masks were purchased, the hardest part was getting them shipped to the U.S.

He said CAFA volunteers had to reach out personally to friends and family in China.

“So we had to find many volunteers to give their home address and then ask their friends in China to ship [masks] with a very small package to here,” Zhao said. “So almost every day we received some small package from China with all these donated masks.”

CAFA had to get creative with how their masks were shipped as China had implemented shipping regulations on April 1, forcing all shipments to be divided into small packages and sent individually.

Despite this regulation, with their funds raised, CAFA was able to purchase 80,000 masks – with 60,000 of them being surgical-standard or N95 masks.

All of the surgical masks were donated to local hospitals and some senior centers, but as far as the normal masks went, there were plenty of other places to spread those around.

Zhao said there was a great need for these masks in our community. Especially for our essential workers – like those who work in local grocery stores.

“Not only the medical service professionals need the mask to protect themselves, but also for the regular people and residents – they also want to protect themselves,” Zhao said.

Because of this need, Zhao has been personally driving to all the supermarkets in Chapel Hill supplying free masks to the staff working there, as well as the shoppers perusing the aisles.

“At the very beginning, many shoppers didn’t wear the masks and when you try to give the masks to them they said ‘no, I’m good,’” Zhao said. “But starting from last week, most of the shoppers wear the masks and if you hand over masks to people that do not have it they are so happy and that makes me feel very good.”

Outside of mask donations, CAFA has been working to support local businesses and those who may be going hungry during this difficult time. Zhao said, so far, they’ve spent around $8,000 dollars buying meals from local Chinese restaurants and delivering them to the community.

“So this is kind of a ‘one stone, two birds,’” Zhao said. “One is to help the people in need, the other one is to help the local restaurants to alleviate their business burden.”

Zhao said, at the end of the day, it’s important to combine our efforts because we all have the same goal.

“I think for the community, what we are concerned about is people’s health,” Zhao said. “Together we are stronger, and also I should say together we can do it.”

CAFA is continuing to order more masks from China as funds and supplies become available. To donate to their COIVD-19 fund, visit their website.

Lead photo of donated masks courtesy of Xilong Zhao.

Note: 97.9 The Hill has been Chapel Hill and Orange County’s daily source for free local news since 1953. Please consider making a donation to continue supporting important local journalism like this.

Local Nonprofit Donates 80,000 Masks from China to Community

On Air Now: 97.9 FM