Valerie Xu, a 15-year-old from Addison in the U.S. state of Texas, has managed to raise donations and delivered 10,000 protective masks to a Dallas medical centre.
Xu said she wanted to do something about the lack of protective gear for medical workers during the coronavirus pandemic and also to combat stories stigmatising Asian Americans during the outbreak.
The story started with a conversation Xu had with a family friend, a Florida emergency room doctor who had to wear the same protective mask for several days.
“This really amazed me in America,” Xu told CNN.
“We’re supposed to be considered the richest country in the world, yet doctors and nurses fighting on the front line cannot get proper protection.”
She then launched a GoFundMe to purchase masks for the UT Southwestern Medical Centre, the largest facility near her home.
So far, Xu managed to raise more than $3,800. She researched vendors in China and chose two suppliers, donating $1,200 of her own money to the cause.
Xu said her campaign had collected so far a total of 11,200 masks, including 10,000 surgical and 1,200 FFP2 masks, which are equivalent to N95 masks in the U.S, CNN reported.
