Yale-China Facilitates Donation of 23,000 Masks

Photo Credit: Yale School of Medicine/Anthony DeCarlo

2020 April 16

Yale School of Medicine was presented with 23,150 surgical masks and N95 masks shipped by a group of prominent Chinese NGOs on April 14, 2020.  The NGOs coalition, calling themselves the “COVID-19 Life Preservation Initiative,” shipped the PPEs to Yale for use by doctors and nurses at Yale New Haven Hospital caring for patients during the current pandemic crisis. The Yale-China Association (which was connected to the Chinese donors by Mr. ZHANG Fan, founder of the Hunan-based Education NGO Wispring), helped the NGOs group deliver the masks today. Present at the handover were Dr. Paul Taheri M.D., CEO of Yale Medicine and Deputy Dean at the Yale School of Medicine;  Dr. Robert Rohrbaugh M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Dean for Global Health Education, and Director of the Office of International Medical Student Education at the School of Medicine; Dr. Gary Zhou M.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology, Yale School of Medicine; and David Youtz, President of Yale-China.  Dr. Rohrbaugh and Dr. Zhou are also Trustees of the Yale-China Association. Associate Dean Taheri, receiving the boxes of masks on behalf of the Medical School, expressed the school’s appreciation on behalf of the doctors, nurses, and staff, saying, “These are so important to us right now. We will put these right to work tomorrow.” 

The Chinese Foundations that purchased and shipped the charitable contributions are The Daofeng and Angela Foundation,  International Leadership Foundation,  Chinese NGO Foundation,  Phoenix New Media,  The Association of Intensive English Programs of Georgetown University,  and The Beijing Health Alliance Charitable Foundation. Mr. HE Daofeng, a philanthropic leader in China, established the “COVID-19 Life Preservation Fund by NGOs,” a coalition of non-governmental organizations. With funding by Mr. He and the Daofeng and Angela Foundation, Mr. He said: “this coalition aims to help protect frontline medical workers …through donations of vital personal protective equipment.” 

David Youtz, Yale-China’s President, thanked Mr. He and his many colleagues at the NGOs for their generosity, “All of us at Yale and in the New Haven community are grateful for this timely donation of life-saving PPEs. These are arriving just as the crisis is peaking here!”

Learn more about how Yale-China is assisting Chinese partners to get PPE to Yale New Haven Hospital here and here.