Masters students send much-needed medical supplies to frontline health workers in Wuhan

by Mary Webster

A team of graduate students from Wake Forest University School of Business, in collaboration with the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and International Student Association (ISA), quickly organized a highly successful fundraising effort in support of healthcare workers battling COVID-19 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

In the span of just one month, the students raised more than $6,000, a total that includes donations made in U.S. dollars and Chinese Yuan. They then used the funds to purchase medical supplies that were shipped to healthcare workers at Wuhan Xiehe Hospital.

The student sent Philips oxygen concentrators, which the hospital received in late February, followed by DuPont™ Tyvek® 800J coveralls, latex gloves, protective goggles, and N95 surgical masks, which arrived in mid-March.

The students who planned, organized, and implemented the effort include Xiaoying Yu (MSBA ’20), Carrie Tian (MSBA ’20), Claire Li (MSBA ’20), Sijia Chen (MSBA ’20), Cheryl Tao (MSBA ’20), Oskar Michelsen (MSM ’20), Yue Guo (MSM ’20), and Jinku Cui (MS ‘20).

ISA, which facilitates opportunities for global outreach and collaboration, provided additional support by helping the students set up the mechanism to raise the funds and by ensuring they were disbursed properly and with accountability. Galen Robotics assisted the students with purchasing medical supplies, while LNS Bioscience provided help with shipping.

Yu sums up what inspired them to take on such a monumental task, saying simply, “Love has no boundaries.”

She added, “Wuhan is not my hometown, but I decided to help it instead of my hometown. I appreciate that a lot of students who grew up in the U.S. felt the same as me, and they helped us. They helped Wuhan.”

Roger Beahm, Professor of Practice in Marketing at the School of Business, commented, “The success of [their] fundraising to support the medical professionals of Wuhan in the face of the coronavirus pandemic has been truly remarkable.”

In a nod to the University’s motto, he thanked the students for “demonstrating what it means to truly live out pro humanitate” or using your knowledge, talents, and compassion for humanity.