This article is a part of our news series on the COVID-19 pandemic. For information on how to prevent the spread of the virus, click here.

UC San Diego Health received the first shipment of medical protection masks from a group of over 300 Chinese parents of UCSD students on April 1, 2020. This shipment is one of several shipments sent by this group of UCSD parents from China. The entire shipment includes medical supplies such as masks, protective overalls, and face shields. 

In March, the group of parents voiced their intentions to donate money and medical support to UCSD as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was rising and reports of medical equipment shortages were confirmed.

The donation started spontaneously among the parents and officially began on March 27. It received more than $40,000 USD, or ¥300,000 Chinese Yuan, in two 24-hour donation windows.  

Due to the transportation and trade control in place by the Chinese government, the donations were divided into multiple shipments. Three shipments have been received at the time of this article’s publication, and a fourth shipment will arrive within the next few days.

A box of medical equipment with a logo that says “Love” (in red) in the middle.  

On April 12, the official UCSD Twitter account posted a thread as they received 20,000 masks, expressing their appreciation. 

A parent who volunteered in helping with the donation procedures said she wanted to help the university because to help the university is to help her own child.

But one of the key leading organizers of the donation event expressed more motivations behind this donation on her personal blogging platform.

She declined to disclose her name because she insisted that the donation is from the entire group of parents from China, and she does not want to, in any case, enlarge her personal contribution. 

“If what is falling down in front of us is the entire world, who could avoid her responsibility and only mind herself?” she said. “What we want to do is what can bring a thread of peace to our hearts during the darkest time.”

“I can be a storyteller, but I am not the hero,” she added.

The group of parents are left with some remaining funds after purchasing the medical supplies. They plan to use this money as emergency aid funding or an anti-epidemic fund for UCSD. 

Photo by UCSD Chinese parents for the UCSD Guardian.