Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano today joined St. Joseph’s Medical Center’s President/CEO Michael Spicer and Richmond Children’s Center’s President/CEO Paca Lipovac to accept a donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) provided by the American Chinese United Care (ACUC) Alliance and its membership donors. The donations will be distributed to city organizations, hospitals and healthcare facilities in need of PPE to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Yonkers is blessed to receive these essential PPE donations from our friends at the American Chinese United Care Alliance,” said Mayor Spano. “Times like these remind us that kindness and generosity exists amongst us as we try to navigate through uncertainty. Our local healthcare facilities need these items now more than ever and we are fortunate for ACUC’s ability to lift up those who are working tirelessly on the frontlines for us.”
ACUC today delivered 30,000 masks, bottles of hand sanitizers, gloves, face shields, goggles and protective gowns to the Yonkers Office of Emergency Management. St. Joseph’s Medical Center, located in southwest Yonkers where many COVID-19 cases reside, received 350 protective gowns, 1200 masks, 30 face shields and 30 goggles.
“On behalf of the many dedicated and hard-working health care professionals at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, I would like to sincerely thank the City of Yonkers and the American Chinese United Care Alliance for their very generous donation of PPE. Our staff is working around the clock on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. These thousands of masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizers will help protect our staff as they continue to fight this pandemic from the frontline,” said Michael Spicer, President and CEO of Saint Joseph’s Medical Center.
Yonkers’ Richmond Children’s Center, which provides services for developmentally disabled children, also received donated PPE.
President/CEO of Richmond Children’s Center Paca Lipovac commented, “We are grateful to the City of Yonkers and Mayor Spano for their continued support of Richmond Community Services. In these difficult times, it is comforting to know that we have supporters who will assist us in getting necessary supplies. People with developmental disabilities are often overlooked and forgotten, but not in Yonkers. Having appropriate PPEs is essential to protect our staff and residents. People who Richmond supports have significant disabilities and medical fragility. They are a high risk group and protecting them is our highest priority. With this generous donation of PPEs we will be able to continue to provide services to people with disabilities and to keep them safe. Thank you Mayor Spano and ACUC, we greatly appreciate it.”
The ACUC Alliance is a recently-launched grassroots coalition of more than 150 Chinese American and overseas Chinese organizations throughout the Tri-State Area. Members include charitable entities, businesses, alumni associations, other Chinese cultural, religious, and professional groups and individuals, all committed to helping local communities in the fight against this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. The ACUC has raised more than $5 million in cash or in-hand PPE donations since March.
ACUC Board Member Victoria Alberto said, “We all understand that only by working together, pooling our resources and knowledge can we hope stop and cure this terrible disease. ACUC is committed to you today and in the future as you work to respond and recover from this pandemic.”
Organizations and businesses that contributed to ACUC’s donation include: New York Chinese Coffee Club; Empires Scholars Consulting; Topseat International Inc.; Crag Du Jor Corp; Xiamen University Alumni Association of New York; The Chinese Community of Eastchester, Tuckahoe & Bronxville; Scarsdale residents Hongwei Zhou and Joanna Wang; Phoenix Textile USA Inc.; and Dress Up for the Day.
Other recipients of ACUC’s donation include St. John’s Riverside Hospital and Open Door Medical Center.
For more information on COVID-19 and the City of Yonkers, visit www.yonkersny.gov/coronavirus.com
