Fighting Against Covid-19 in China and the United States

COVID-19, the disease caused by the recently discovered coronavirus, is a respiratory illness that can spread from person to person. This virus, discovered in 2019, has impacted the world in an unprecedented way. In 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Mr. and Mrs. He have contributed to the fight against the coronavirus by helping those affected by the outbreak’s effects in the China and in the United States.

Early Response Actions in China

On January 28, 2020, Mr. and Mrs. He made a donation to the Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE) to help fight the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei, China. The donation was used to purchase breathing machines and medical-grade face masks.

On March 4, 2020, Mr. and Mrs. He sponsored and began a project to help students from low-income families with online school. This project was initiated by alumni (Zhang Fan, Liu Ying, Sun Xuemei, Guo Shiyu and 21 others) from the Intensive English Program (IEP). Details about the IEP can be found here. Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, traditional teaching in classroom was replaced with online teaching. However, students from low-income families do not have access to computers nor Internet. This lack of access results in a worsening educational inequality, which subsequently causes additional stress on poorer students.

On March 2, 2020, Mr. He reached out to Sun Xuemei in China and learned of low-income families’ situation in regard to education, especially from rural areas. Given the urgent situation, Mr. He immediately told Sun Xuemei he would sponsor ¥2,000,000 (1,800 tablets) to supply low-income family students with tablets so they can catch up on their online classes.  By partnering with Phoenix New Media and Hunan Wispring Education Development Foundation, Sun Xuemei and others officially published the application for free tables on the Ifeng’s website on March 4, 2020.  A total of 5,002 applicants were received within 7 hours, and after all applications were thoroughly reviewed, 1,800 middle and high school students were selected from 25 provinces to receive tablets. On March 10, 2020, students began receiving their tablets and used them for their online classes.

Mr. He is proud that the IEP Alumni effectively accomplished their project goal of helping students from low-income families within such a short timeframe. Mr. He said, “For the new generation of leaders in philanthropy, the most important thing is not to scale up a certain project but to always adhere to the intrinsic quality and direction of charitable activity. Therefore, the focus of Georgetown University’s IEP is to help members think critically and create long-terms solutions through a global lens in a transformational way.  With determination, one can go further without being falsely led by short-term prosperity or being defeated by the temporary setbacks.”

When the pandemic spread to the United States, Mr. and Mrs. He also initiate the COVID-19 response in the United States – Life Preservation Initiative.

About Life Preservation Initiative

Life Preservation Initiative (LPI) is a coalition among Non-Governmental Organizations that is helping frontline healthcare professionals and vulnerable communities fight COVID-19 by providing them with critical personal protective equipment (PPE).

On March 23, 2020, four American nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) partnered with three Chinese NGOs to form the COVID-19 Life Preservation Initiative.

Dao Feng and Angela Foundation (formerly known as Daofeng & Angela Foundation) led the way to create this initiative and donated over $1000,000 . The movement involved 13 partners, 84 volunteers from 14 cities in the United States, and China.

LPI’s Mission:

• Protect Healthcare Professionals

We focus on protecting healthcare professionals working in the front lines of COVID-19 and supporting the healthcare system to preserve lives.

• Protect Vulnerable Communities

We focus on protecting public service workers, first responders, and community volunteers, as well as vulnerable members of the public to reduce COVID-19 infection rates in high-risk communities.

• Promote Civic Engagement and Collaboration

We hope to enhance civic engagement and community development. We also hope our efforts will encourage more collaborations among nonprofits and volunteer groups to rebuild communities after major disasters, thus promoting the values of universal love and humanitarianism.

Why We Donate PPEs:

• The needs to protect healthcare workers.
• The needs to support necessary institutions in the community.
• We have the resources and capabilities to carry out cross-border procurement of PPEs.
• We hope to increase the sense of self-identity as citizens of the local community by involving Chinese American volunteers in the process of the action.

The Challenge of Sourcing Masks in 2020

• It’s hard to find reliable vendors and avoid being scammed.

In order to find reliable suppliers, LPI Procurement Team members consulted more than 100 manufacturers. American Physicians helped them vet the PPE products. There were times when the physicians would reject more than 10 supply sources in a day.

• When the Requirements Change

Not only the U.S. requirements for masks kept changing, but also the Chinese requirements for customs have changed. LPI Procurement Team members were under a lot of pressure to make immediate decisions to meet every change of requirements while International flights and other logistic channels were tightening at the same time.

“What LPI is doing is especially critical, as it is quite important to let people know that we have friends all over the world to help with the struggle against COVID-19.”

Thomas O Fox, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Director of Graduate Studies at Harvard Medical School (HMS), our volunteer in Boston

Project Data Disclosure

Through June 26, 2020, we have donated over 980,000 PPEs to over 25 hospitals and 30 non-profit and public office recipients in New York, Connecticut, D.C., Maryland, New Orleans, and Boston. In total, we have acquired nearly 90,000 N95 masks from the US and Japan and around 1 million single-use masks from China, which arrived in 7 batches and were distributed to the communities in need.

The detailed approach and data could be found in the LPI impact report or the slides as follows.

Promote Civic Engagement and Collaboration

The mission of LPI is not only preserving lives during the pandemic, but also promoting civic engagement and collaboration in our actions. That is why we chose to involve volunteers from 14 cities to operate LPI and encourage local NPOs to collaborate when they apply for our mask donations instead of donating those masks directly to those national organizations or government departments.

• Connecting and Involving in Local Key Opinion Leaders

LPI encourages volunteers to explore more local key opinion leaders to arouse more attention to support healthcare workers and vulnerable groups. We are happy to see New York Councilman Peter Koo and Assistant Speaker of New York Assembly Felix Ortiz join the action of LPI and contribute to call on “united”.

This is not simply about honoring the Asian American community. The Life Preservation Initiative has reminded us that it is our human calling to help one another, regardless of our politics, borders, religion or race. To defeat COVID-19, we must put aside all biases, prejudices and preconceptions. United we stand.

Councilman Peter Koo

“Our first responders are on the front lines helping New Yorkers in this time of a pandemic crisis. They must have the tools they need to get their jobs done. I am pleased to have an opportunity to join LPI as a volunteer to provide masks for these brave New Yorkers. I hope people can see their efforts, the risks they face and support them.”

Assistant Speaker of New York Assembly Felix Ortiz, our volunteer

• To honor volunteerism, we held and joined several advocacy activities encouraging people to engage in providing support to communities and people who fight against viruses on the frontline. 

  1) ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITIES VIRTUAL PRESS ADVOCACY

  On May 26, 2020, Dao Feng He , Lead Donor, Life Preservation Initiative were invited to join in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities virtual press conference convened by grassroots Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and UnitedUSA, and give a speech to share the story of volunteers of LPI, and call for volunteerism.

         2) TIMES SQUARE BILLBOARD ADVOCACY

On May 27, the LPI volunteers, LPI partner organizations, along with their staff and volunteers were honored with a billboard in Times Square designed by Dongsheng Li, a famous designer in China.

Volunteers of LPI, representatives and volunteers of The Salvation Army   Great New York Division and Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, Fellow members of the Emergency Task Force, NYPD policemen, and EMS Station responders of NY Fire Department gathered together to join in this advocacy event to prompt the spirit of volunteerism.

Under the bright lights, they watched as their name was projected high above the crossroads of the world. They were surrounded by the names of other groups who have also been fighting on the frontlines of the global pandemic.

         3) ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH ADVOCACY

On May 28th, 2020, in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, The Life Preservation Initiative donated 140,000 non-surgical masks to the Salvation Army of Central Maryland to protect Baltimore City’s most vulnerable communities like senior citizens, low-income families, the homeless population, and also first responders.

Mayor Jack Young of Baltimore city, U.S. Congresswoman Amata Coleman Radewagen, Major Gene Hogg, Area Commander, The Salvation Army of Central MD, Chiling Tong, President & CEO, Asian/Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, Dao Feng He, Lead Donor, Life Preservation Initiative and Bing Rao, President, Flagstone Foundation joined in the Donation and Memorial Ceremony.

A PROFOUND

THANK YOU

TO ALL SPONSORS, DONORS, PARTNERS, AND VOLUNTEERS.

 AND TO ALL OF THE HEALTHCARE WORKERS, FIRST RESPONDERS,

AND ALL NPO STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

FOR YOUR TIME, ENERGY, AND GENEROUS SUPPORT.

 Thanks to all of you