Newton Chinese Organizations Fundraise for Community

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Newton, local Chinese American organizations have joined together to aid their local community in protecting vulnerable workers and slowing the spread of the virus.

The Newton Chinese Language School (NCLS), the Newton Alliance of Chinese Americans (NACA), and the Chinese American Association of Newton (CAAN) have collectively donated over $50,000 in medical supplies to Newton hospitals, centers, and businesses.

Before the outbreak in the U.S., NCLS had already raised almost $2,000 for the Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation. The school also held a Walk for Wuhan event, in which $7,000 was raised to purchase medical supplies such as masks, gloves, goggles, and overalls for local hospitals.

“As immigrants from China, we all felt obligated to help out people in China to fight the virus,” said NCLS planning director Helen Cao. “Once the coronavirus started in the U.S., we felt an even stronger obligation that we should step up to help our local community.” After the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in Newton, the organization began to donate directly to the city and raised $5,000 as of Friday.

At the same time, NACA turned to their members on WeChat, the popular Chinese social media app, for help funding donations to hospitals and senior centers. The organization would accept donations primarily through PayPal and would use WeChat to update their group of over 500 members on the status of their donations. “The platform works beautifully,” said NACA president Qingli Jiang. “Everything is transparent to our donors.”

The effort was led by NACA organizers Jiang, Feng Li, Xiaojing Li, and Tom Zou. According to Xiaojing Li, the association has donated 22,100 masks, 5,000 surgical caps, 2,000 pairs of gloves, and 600 gowns as of Monday. A group of 47 volunteers pick up the supplies to deliver to Newton hospitals and senior centers.

“Doctors, nurses, and other essential business staff face the most dangerous situations directly,” said Jiang. “We want to make sure that they know that they are not alone and that we appreciate their sacrifice, bravery, and efforts.”

As of Thursday, CAAN, a group consisting of over 900 members, successfully raised $20,148 to purchase masks and overalls from China for local hospitals, senior centers, grocery stores, post offices, and the city of Newton. Newton mayor Ruthanne Fuller thanked the group for their efforts in an email. “CAAN is wonderful to step forward so generously and quickly during this difficult period,” she wrote. “We are so, so grateful.”

According to Yongqi Deng, the CAAN co-chair, in addition to making donations to the local community, the group is using their connections in China to help local hospitals source vendors, as the U.S. is facing a shortage in supplies.

So far, the group has donated 10,000 masks, 1,000 KN95 masks, and 350 overalls, with additional orders on the way. “We need all people to work together in order to save our community and help each other. When there is a disaster like this, nobody can be spared,” said Deng. “We are all human beings when it comes to the virus.”

Ways You Can Help:

1. Donate to the City of Newton:
   1. E-mail: covid19donations@newtonma.gov
2. Donate to NCLS:
   1. PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/NCLSDONATE
3. Donate to NACA:
   1. PayPal or Zelle: newton.naca@gmail.com
   2. Check:
      1. Pay to the order of Newton Alliance of Chinese Americans (NACA)
      2. Address: PO Box 173, Waban, MA 02468
      3. Add note: Fight COVID-19
4. Donate to CAAN:
   1. PayPal: donation@caan-ma.org using “Sending to friends and family”
      1. Add note “COVID-19”
   2. Zelle: donation@caan-ma.org
      1. Name: CAAN-ma
      2. Memo: COVID-19
   3. Venmo: @NewtonCAAN, last 4 digits of phone: 2629
   4. Check:
      1. Pay to the order of Chinese American Association of Newton (CAAN) ℅ Yumei Leng
      2. Address: 29 Coyne Road, Waban, 02468
      3. Add note: COVID-19