Family and Friends From China Donate Equipment for Healthcare Workers
President Cabrera said he was "grateful to the families of Georgia Tech students from China, and other friends and supporters, for their generous donation" of personal protective equipment.
The Georgia Tech community continues to band together to provide needed resources in the fight against COVID-19. And one of the latest efforts includes a large donation from China.
Georgia Tech alumni and more than 300 families of current and past Tech students from China donated several thousand face masks, as well as hundreds of safety goggles and face shields for the Institute to use and share with area medical providers. The Georgia Tech China Education Foundation contributed to the effort, and UPS, a Georgia Tech corporate partner, delivered the personal protective equipment (PPE).
Tech President Ángel Cabrera was on hand Wednesday to accept the shipment.
“We are very grateful to the families of Georgia Tech students from China, and other friends and supporters, for their generous donation of personal protective equipment for the campus and the community,” said President Cabrera. “In this global pandemic, their gift is yet another outstanding example of the type of global collaboration we need. Together, we will meet the challenge.”
Georgia Tech has maintained limited campus operations due to the coronavirus pandemic, including moving all instruction online and closing most residence halls. However, some international students have had to remain on campus because of travel restrictions and the impact of the outbreak in their home countries. Family members of students from China expressed their gratitude for services provided to those students and offered the donation as a token of appreciation.
“As the Institute begins to ramp up research and operations, this shipment is critical PPE for our first-line staff that will work to ensure facilities are sanitized and disinfected, waste is removed properly, research operations are safely restarted, and IT resources are available for online education,” said Nazia Zakir, assistant vice president of Environmental Health and Safety.
In addition to this donation, Tech recently received an additional 4,000 masks from its off-campus instructional site, Georgia Tech-Shenzhen.
Georgia Tech also continues to work with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Public Health to distribute PPE and other donated supplies to healthcare workers and agencies throughout the state.