WINCHESTER, Mass. — Boxes filled with vital personal protective equipment (PPE) are coming from across the globe to Winchester. Currently, 18,600 pieces of PPE have already been donated to nearly two dozen local hospitals and nursing homes, along with other institutions.
They are the Chinese-American community in Winchester, or Can-Win for short – an appropriate name for the group’s lofty and much-needed goal. Wei Han and Jifeng Liu came up with the idea.
“We got overwhelming support from the local Chinese-American residents,” Liu said. “They’re donating money and they are donating these masks.”
Masks and protective gear that’s pouring in from China, where the worst is over.
“Right now the coronavirus is under control now and they have the supplies [like] the masks,” Han said.
Families back home are sending their surplus. And CAN-WIN members wanted to help.
>>>MORE: Local man helping hospitals collect tech so patients can see families virtually
“MGH and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, they have a desperate need for this protective equipment,” Han said.
Both hospitals were first on the list. The group has also raised money, totaling near $48,000.
Jifeng owns a lab in Massachusetts where he can more easily purchase PPEs.
“Fisher Scientific, which is one of the major vendors in the world to supply PPEs,” Liu said.
It’s not medical-grade equipment, but the PPEs are gladly accepted by local doctors, firefighters and police. It’s an effort these men will continue until the urgency has passed.
Frontline workers are not the only groups benefiting. The group also donated masks to a Stop and Shop for seniors who come in early to shop so they could be better protected.
>>>MORE: ‘We don’t have a playbook’: Greater Boston Food Bank sees demand more than double
© 2020 Cox Media Group
