在COVID-19的全球疫情之下,我所在的社区以及人们的生活也毫无例外地受到了影响。
作为高中生，我想要为我所在的社区做一些贡献，去帮助那些需要口罩的人们，以便他们更好地武装自己，和病毒战斗。
我组织了一个国际生小分队，一部分成员来自于我的学校，另外一部分来自于湾区其它学校。
我们发起了一个项目来募集资金，然后从中国购买口罩，因为疫情发生比较早，而中国的口罩生产量正在日益增加。等到口罩从中国运输过来之后，我们再在社区分发给他人。
4月13号，收到了从中国寄来的5000个口罩之后，我们制定了捐赠计划。
我们希望这些口罩能到达最需要的人手里，我们也希望展示出中国人民的友谊和爱。
作为人类，我们需要把政治放在一边，团结起来解决此次我们共同面对的危机。
两天之后，我们给旧金山总医院和圣塔克拉拉山谷医疗中心各捐了500个口罩。
后来从山谷医疗中心的Kitty护士那里得知，这批口罩来得正是时候。她在6MED工作，并且把口罩分享给了同事。
尽管疫情一直在蔓延，我们捐赠的口罩让他们能够保持安全。遗憾的是，也有一些机构，担心口罩质量问题，没有接受任何组织的捐赠，有医务工作者被新冠病毒感染。
又过了两天，我们给我们的邻居和邮局工作者捐赠了150个口罩。我们把口罩放在一个盒子里供人自取。
在拿回空盒子的时候，我们发现了一个惊喜：一位在邮局工作的女士，留下了一封感谢信。盒子可能已经空了，但是我们感受到满满的爱意。
4月18日，我们给四个护理中心各捐了250个口罩。尽管在对居民的保护政策之下，我们的捐赠过程受到了接触限制，但是每个中心都对我们的捐赠给予了最热烈的欢迎。
当我访问赫曼健康护理中心的时候，一位年迈的女士，在丈夫的陪伴下，颤巍巍地站在中心的窗户下面，看着我经过。通过半透明的玻璃窗，我看到她的母亲躺在里面，周围都是仪器。
那位女士哭着喊到，“妈妈我爱你，我们想你。”她颤抖着，尽可能地贴近半开的窗户，好像想要翻进去。
隔离虽然让人们分离，但是爱不会被分离。我们真诚地祝愿这位女士和她的母亲，还有所有被疫情影响的人们。
当学校纷纷关闭的时候，一些学生失去了公立学校提供的免费午餐。低收入家庭的孩子可能面临没有午餐的境地。圣塔克拉拉学校联合委员会发起了一个项目，在学校给学生分发午餐。
我们选择了四个学校发放午餐的据点，在5周之内捐赠了2000个口罩。委员会的人告知我们，机构提供的口罩是远远不够的，他们在一段时间之内只能重复使用口罩，我们极大地帮他们解决了问题。
他们一天要给上千个孩子发放午餐，我们的口罩能够让他们保持安全，从而更好地为社区服务。
在5月份，我们又分别给圣何塞总医院和圣塔克拉拉山谷医疗中心捐赠了500个口罩。
VMC的护士们给了我们暖心的感谢信。每次当我们捐赠口罩的时候，我们总是能收到医疗机构的工作人员通过视频和图片向我们致谢。
看到我们的口罩被他们戴上是一个很棒的体验。每个我们捐赠的地方，都给予我们微笑和感谢。
我们为能够支持和保护在困境中的可爱的医务工作者，护理中心的工作人员还有其它核心机构的从业人员而感到骄傲。
让我们一起战胜新冠！
Love is contagious,and we spread it with masks
In this global pandemic of COVID-19, our community was affected with no exception, the lives of people received major impacts from this global health event. As high schoolers of our community, I wanted to make contributions to the community around us, to help those who are in need of these resources to be more prepared against the virus. I organized a team of international students, some from my own school and some from different locations of the Bay Area. We proposed a project to raise funds and purchase face masks from China due to its increased production from its early exposure to the virus and ship them over to our community and distribute them to those that are in need.
On April 13th, we received 5000 face masks from China and made up our plan of donation. We hope that these face masks go into the hands of those who need it the most and we not only want to protect those in the community that are making contribution, we also intend this to be gesture of friendship and love from China, that as human beings, putting all politics aside, we should unite to solve this crisis for we are all in this together.
Two days later, we donated 500 face masks each to San Francisco General Hospital and Santa Clara Medical Center. Later recalled by nurse Kitty from Valley Medical Center, that these face masks came in the moment it was most needed. She works in 6MED and she shared it with all her colleagues, despite the spread of COVID-19, they were able to stay safe with the plentiful supply of face masks from our donations. The other sections were not so fortunate, being reluctant to receive donations, which is understandable for their concern of face mask qualities, often had medical workers infected with the novel Coronavirus.
In another two days, we donated 150 face masks to our neighbors and post officers. We put them in a box for pick-up; when we picked up the empty box, we found a pleasant surprise: a letter inside from a postwoman, thanking us for the face masks. The box may be empty, but the intangible love that we receive is immeasurable.
April 18th, we donated 250 face masks each to four nursing centers near our area. Although our contacts are limited because of the policies of the nursing center to protect their residents, every center we visited treated us with the warmest gratitude for these donations. When I visited the Herman Health Care Center, there was an old lady, accompanied by her husband, standing shakingly near the window of the health care room as I was walking out, visitors were not allowed and we had to leave our donations at the door. Inside the half see-through window lies her mother, accompanied by no one but medical machines. The lady was in tears, shouting with a shaking, painful voice: “ Mom! I love you, we miss you!”, trembling, she got as close to the half-open window as possible, as if she was going to jump inside. The quarantine may be able to separate people, but it cannot separate love. We wish all the best for this lady and her mother, and for all whose lives are affected by this pandemic.
When the schools closed, a lot of children going to public schools, who previously relied on the lunch provided by their institutions can no longer gain access to those foods. Low income families are at risk as they may be unable to support and afford those meals. Santa Clara Unified School District has a wonderful program in which they distribute lunch at schools to families that need them. We selected four school locations and donated 2000 face masks over the course of five weeks. They told me that their supply of face masks from their organizer wasn’t enough, and they had to reuse them for extended periods of time, and we were able to show up to solve their problems. They feed thousands of children a day, these masks were the reason that they can stay safe and keep helping our community.
In May, we donated another 1500 masks each to San Jose General Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. I was surprised by a heartwarming thank-you letter from the nurses from VMC. Everytime we make face masks donations, we are always met with videos and pictures of staff expressing their gratitude.
It has been fantastic to see them putting these face masks to good use. Every place we make a donation, we are welcomed with smiles and gratitude; we feel proud being able to support them and protect our lovely medical workers, healthcare centers and other essential workers in these hard times.
Together we fight COVID!
作者：William Chen
BASIS Independent Silicon Valley
美国 · 加利福尼亚州