As soon as they learned that health-care workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic at Southlake Regional Health Centre needed medical masks, the Chinese-Canadian community in Newmarket and area quickly stepped up to help.
Within two days they had raised more than $20,000, connected with a vendor in China and had also sourced local supplies, said Maureen Zhang, spokesperson for the informal network of Chinese-Canadian residents in Newmarket, Aurora, East Gwillimbury and King.
On Saturday, they delivered almost 500 boxes filled with 10,000 surgical masks and 13,500 medical masks to the receiving dock at the back of the Newmarket hospital.
"We do love our community," said Zhang. "And we want our community to be strong, especially our health-care workers."
The local Chinese community quickly grasped the critical need to halt the spread of COVID-19 after seeing the toll it took in China, she said, and some of them purchased their own masks in preparation more than a month ago.
"We knew, at the beginning, this was a serious thing ... but I don't think local people here initially sensed how serious this is," Zhang added.
At first, when they learned of the shortage of masks, the network began donating their supplies to local seniors, who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, but quickly changed direction on learning of the need for additional personal protection equipment (PPE) at Southlake.
After speaking with a Southlake employee to confirm the need, Zhang said the group moved quickly to reach out to their connections for financial support and new supplies of the much-in-demand masks.
More than 300 people across York Region, as well as Toronto and even Montreal, helped raise more than $11,000 through the group's GoFundMe campaign, and another $11,000 was sent by email transfer, she said.
"Now is the time for us to give back to our hometown," added Zhang, who is encouraging the community to support Southlake through this health-care crisis.
Southlake continues to welcome donations of PPE, and you can also make a donation directly to Southlake's COVID-19 response fund here.
