The Chinese Faculty Club (CFC) at MSU was originally created to give new Chinese faculty a sense of belonging, providing them with orientation, workshops, and other resources to help integrate into such a large university. But as the novel coronavirus swept across the globe, the club found a new role—securing urgently needed medical supplies for the local community.
After hearing stories about the severity of COVID-19 from friends and family in China, club members grew concerned about the disease’s spread in the U.S. and wanted to help. They realized that while they could contribute individually, they would have a much greater impact together. They quickly created a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for health facilities in the Greater Lansing area. So far, they have collected more than $31,000 and have already used $20,000 to supply local hospitals and clinics with equipment such as surgical masks, N-95 masks, protective gowns, and gloves.
The current president of the CFC is Xuefei Huang, MSU Foundation Professor and associate chair for research in the Department of Chemistry. Speaking about the initiative, he said, “We were really impressed and humbled about the experience. In less than five days we hit our initial fundraising goal.”
Huang is quick to point out that although the fundraiser was spearheaded by the Chinese community, not all of the donors are of ethnic Chinese origin, and other members of the local community were moved by the CFC’s call to action.
The initiative’s roots extend beyond MSU as well. Earlier this year, the CFC, the Michigan Chinese American Coalition and the Greater Lansing Chinese Association formed a coalition to support China’s efforts to combat the novel coronavirus. However the focus of the coalition shifted to mid-Michigan as the virus began to cross borders. “We saw that the situation in China was getting under control, but we became worried when we saw the cases in the U.S. spike,” said Huang.
The coalition includes medical doctors, nurses, and lawyers who have connections to the healthcare system and medical equipment manufacturers. Coordinating closely with local hospitals, they leveraged those connections to secure supplies, purchasing in bulk to obtain a better price.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Huang noted how important it is to support the healthcare workers on the front lines of the crisis. “It is absolutely critical to help our medical professionals because they are our heroes, risking their own health to protect our community,” he said.
Moving forward, the CFC is looking to continue acquiring much needed equipment to help local hospitals as well as other people at high risk, including those in retirement homes, caseworkers, and first responders. They are also working with the local school districts to provide masks to those operating the free lunch trucks.
“We heard gruesome news [from China] with a lot of people dying and we’ll do the best we can to prevent this from happening in Michigan. We're all in this together. It is our community,” said Huang.
To contribute, visit the fundraiser on GoFundMe.