A team of Stanford students and alumni has raised thousands of dollars to send medical supplies to Wuhan, China and its surrounding areas — the epicenter of the coronavirus that has infected over 28,000 individuals in over 25 countries and has taken the lives of more than 560 people.
As of Wednesday, the Stanford for Wuhan team, created by the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Stanford (ACSSS), has worked alongside other organizations to raise over $100,000. Stanford for Wuhan contributed $15,251 of that total via GoFundMe donations.
“The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Stanford has paid a lot of attention to the risk of coronavirus since Jan. 21, when the outbreak of coronavirus in China raised plenty of concerns,” wrote ACSSS co-presidents Xiaoyong Wang M.A. ’20 and third-year geological sciences Ph.D. student Lijing Wang in a statement to The Daily.
Chinese students and scholars were concerned about Wuhan’s severe shortages of essential medical supplies, especially personal protective equipment, the co-presidents added. ACSSS thus mobilized the Stanford for Wuhan group, which has six subgroups focusing on fundraising, hospital communication, supply list management, transportation, local contact and publicity.
“We are really touched by all the hardworking and passion of our volunteers for their varied contributions, as well as the support we provide with each other at our Stanford community,” Xiaoyong and Lijing wrote on behalf of the ACSSS. “We do believe that we will beat this virus very soon and have a healthy and peaceful world.”
Because University policy states that student organizations may not initiate donations, the Stanford for Wuhan group partnered with Life Science and Entrepreneurship and Plus (LEAP), a nonprofit organization operated by several Stanford alumni.
LEAP has united undergraduate and graduate students from Stanford, UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania to send medical supplies to China. The organization also partnered with Love and Care, a nonprofit organization composed of high school students from both the U.S. and Canada, according to LEAP core team member Xiaoyu Zang Ph.D. ’18.
Fundraising through various platforms — including GoFundMe, Venmo, Chase Quickpay and Paypal — opened at noon on Jan. 24 and has received up to $111,723 as of Wednesday, according to Stanford for Wuhan leader Xueying Cao M.S. ’22.
“I was really moved by friends who asked me about my families in China and who told me that they donated to the fundraiser,” said Zixian Ma ’22, who shared the GoFundMe page on social media. “We raised money to purchase essential medical supplies and sent them directly to the healthcare professionals who are working in the frontline in Hubei Province.”
This article has been corrected to reflect the name of the non-profit organization working with Stanford for Wuhan. It is Life Science and Entrepreneurship and Plus, not Leadership Entrepreneurship and Plus. The Daily regrets this error.
Contact Camryn Pak at cpak23 ‘at’ stanford.edu.