Johns Creek Rep. Kausche Donates N95 Masks To GA Hospital

JOHNS CREEK, GA — State Reps. Angelika Kausche (D-Johns Creek) and CaMia Hopson (D-Albany), in partnership with the SINO-USA Next Generation Foundation in Atlanta, recently donated 1,200 N95 masks to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Dougherty County.

“The outpouring of support our Albany community has received from all over the United States has been most appreciated,” Hopson said. “I am thankful to the SINO-USA Next Generation Foundation for stepping in and helping out by providing personal protective equipment for our hospital staff. ‘#AlbanyStrong’ is not just a trendy slogan, it is simply who we are and with the continued help of organizations such as this, we will continue to rise above this tragedy our community is experiencing.”

Located in Hopson’s House District, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital has been reported as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in rural Georgia and is in need of personal protective equipment. When Hopson reached out to her fellow state legislators asking for donations to purchase supplies, she received a response from Kausche, who has been coordinating with the local Chinese-American community in metro Atlanta.

“I was more than amazed that I received such a quick response from the Chinese community and am incredibly grateful for their commitment and dedication to fill the personal protective equipment gap,” Kausche said. “Within less than 24 hours, we were able to deliver 1,200 masks to Albany. The only thing they needed was someone to deliver the supplies, so I stepped up and delivered them to Albany myself.”

On March 27, Kausche shared her husband, Fabian, tested positive for coronavirus about two weeks earlier, and had been fighting the virus with ups and downs.

"He is still running a fever but is otherwise fine," she wrote on March 27. "I myself exhibited symptoms for the past week with dry cough and fever but am doing much better now. We have been in quarantine for nearly two weeks now, and I am really looking forward to the day when I can do simple things again like going grocery shopping."

While their lives have been restricted, Kausche said she continues to follow daily coronavirus updates from state and local agencies urging everyone to follow CDC guidelines to protect ourselves and others, including at-risk populations who need to be protected from the virus.

"I know that many of you feel as anxious about the current situation as me," she wrote. "The best we can do to fight this together is to 'flatten the curve' by social distancing. This will help save lives and protect the incredible efforts of our healthcare and emergency workers on the frontlines. We owe it to them to do the right thing."

Over the past few weeks, the SINO-USA Next Generation Foundation has purchased and received donations of over 40,000 masks, 150 goggles and 100 isolation gowns. The community has donated half of the supplies to nearly 20 hospitals and affiliated clinics, including Grady Hospital, Northside Hospital, Emory Healthcare, Piedmont Healthcare, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Georgia Regional Hospital and now, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.

“We believed it was our responsibility to stand up and reach out to Chinese-American communities to help our country, the United States of America,” said Charlie Bao, director of SINO-USA Next Generation Foundation. “With the overwhelmingly strong support from the community, we have been working hard to source and purchase PPE from certified Chinese suppliers to donate to the hospitals in metro Atlanta, Athens and Albany. With the arrival of shipments, we will continue our donations to the most needed areas. We are in this together, and we will get through this together.”

The SINO-USA Next Generation Foundation is a 501(c)(3) approved charitable organization established in 2009, providing scholarships to help needy students complete their basic education in mainland China.

For more information on SINO-USA Next Generation Foundation, click here.