爱城华人协力抗击新冠疫情(一)
爱城华人协力抗疫阶段性总结
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/a4GXErDNyEcd9xIo6imZ6A
继捐赠医疗物资之后，爱城华人协会向社区发起捐款倡议，得到社区的快速响应。爱城华人协会和爱城中文学校各拿出$1000，加上爱城及周边地区的华人朋友们捐款预计共$13,000 建立抗疫基金。该基金由非营利组织爱城华人协会设专门帐户管理。该项基金将捐赠给受疫情影响的医院和社区。
New outreach of Iowa City’s Chinese community lends a hand during COVID-19 pandemic
Last year, the Iowa City Chinese Association took a bold step.
Since its founding in 2007, it had been a private social club for members only, the main purpose being to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
“But as folks settled in over the years, there was a growing realization that we should not dwell in the mindset that we are mere visitors living in a foreign land,” its current president, Yaling Yi, told me.
“We had now become part of the community and wanted to interact more and welcome non-Chinese descent folks to our events,” she said. “So in 2019, we made the switch from a social club to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We welcome anyone, regardless of national origin.”
The move was a timely one, considering this year’s COVID-19 pandemic.
For one thing, with its more open status, the association and its more than 800 members and friends could more easily join hands with the many other local nonprofits offering assistance.
It quickly raised $13,000 to establish an coronavirus emergency response fund and donated thousands of medical masks and other PPE to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. It has provided 700 meals so far to homeless shelters and front-line medical staff, plus supported other local agencies in need. It created webpages at https://icaca.info/combat-covid19 and continues to offer support in many other ways.