Tongji University Special Anti-COVID-19 Funds raised
CNY 2,229,900 and Tongji Hero Fund CNY 3,738,700.
As of February 21, 2020, a total of 6426 people donated to the Tongji University Special Anti-VOVID-19 Funds jointly established by Tongji University Alumni Association (TUAA) and Tongji University Education Development Foundation (TUEDF). Among the donations of CNY 2,2299 million, CNY 1,8654 million has been spent on procurement of medical supplies including ventilators, face masks, goggles, protective clothing, gloves, shoe covers and disinfectants in support of the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan and Tongji University for its disease prevention and control work.
On January 28, 2020, TUAA and TUEDF jointly established the Tongji University Special Anti-VOVID-19 Funds amid the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan and other parts of the country to aid Tongji Medical College of HUST in Wuhan and Tongji University for its disease prevention and control work, which received quick response among Tongji alumni and people from the society both at home and abroad.
The first fundraising round of the Special Funds ended on February 4. Within one week, 6,120 people donated CNY 1,559,500, which has been used to purchase medical materials needed by the first-line medical professionals through proper channels.
In response to the enthusiastic support of the alumni and caring people, the second round of fundraising started soon after the first round came to an end, and is still underway. As of February 21, the Special Funds received donations of CNY 670,400, among which CNY 305,900 has been used for further procurement of medical materials. Though challenging, the Foundation take it as their responsibility to make the best use of the donations to aid the fight against the epidemic. The Foundation has won strong support from people in all walks of life who recommended reliable supply channels for procurement of medical materials which are in short supply in the market. With their enthusiastic help, procurement of the following medical supplies was completed including 6,000 disinfection tablets, 3,900 masks, 10,000 pairs of gloves for Tongji Hospital; 30 ventilators, 78,700 masks, 1,000 pairs of goggles, 130,000 pairs of gloves, 50,000 pairs shoe covers, 10,000 protective clothing, 1,998 surgical gowns, 14,000 disinfection tablets, and 2,016 bottles of sanitizing gel for Tongji Medical College of HUST.
People from the Foundation managed to send the medical materials to the front line immediately upon completion of the procurement within the shortest time possible in the premise of legal compliance after they went through procurement formalities strictly in accordance with the university regulations with the help of the University’s finance office, audit department, procurement office, members and supervisors the Foundation. In order to further ensure the proper use of the donations and the standard implementation of procurement, Longan (Shanghai) law firm has been invited to monitor the procurement process and safeguard the legal rights and interests of the Foundation as well as the donors.
In addition to donating money, many alumni donated medical materials in urgent need. Melbourne Alumni Association donated 3,800 surgical masks and 720 N95 masks; an anonymous alumnus in the U.S. donated 100 body temperature guns, XU Yongming 25 body temperature guns, and WANG Qi 10,000 pairs of gloves. DU Chenmin and LIU Linyan, husband and wife, donated 100 N95 masks, 5,000 pairs of gloves and 2,400 pieces of alcohol disinfection cotton; YE Jian and YE Jin, brothers, donated 5,800 masks and YUAN Wanjiang 15 ECG monitors. Jiaxing Ponchi Electronics co. LTD. donated 20 ventilators, and alumni from Class 2001 of the Department of Architecture WANG Hua, YU Ding, LIU Cui, YANG Chang, ZHANG Jingyi, REN Siying, WANG Jia, BIAN Keju, MA Qingyi, CHANG Xing, LIU Ye, YUAN Ying donated 10 tons of disinfectant 84. In addition to the above Tongji alumni, a lot of caring people from the society both at home and abroad showed their concern by making kind donations. Ms. LIU Yingying donated 90 N95 masks and 5 R95 masks. Mr. CAI Zibiao, in Switzerland, managed to find local suppliers of masks and goggles, bought them and sent them to China for the Foundation. Madrid Polytechnic University of Spain donated 480 N95 masks and 3,000 surgical masks. In addition, before the establishment of the Special Funds, a number of alumni and alumni organizations had started their donations to help alleviate the material shortage during the epidemic.
When information of material suppliers and donations arrived, the Foundation would contact the receivers of the medical materials, i.e. Wuhan Tongji Hospital and Tongji Medical College of HUST to confirm whether and how the to-be-donated/donated materials would meet the medical standards in the hospitals and suit their needs. They also kept in touch with the hospitals in Wuhan to find out their needs and difficulties so to provide resources most suitable to the people in the front line. Close working relationship has been established between the Tongji University Alumni Association, Tongji University Education Development Foundation and Tongji Medical College of HUST. On the one hand, the Associations and Foundation understood the difficulties in fighting the disease confronted by the hospitals in Wuhan; on the other hand, Tongji Medical College felt for themselves how hard the Alumni Association and the Foundation as well as donors have been trying to help them fight the coronavirus. Upon receiving the 15 ECG monitors and 50 ventilators, CHEN Jian, a teacher from Tongji Medical College, said with gratitude, “they are exactly what we need most here at hospitals”. As soon as people from Wuhan Tongji Hospital learned about the arrival of the medical supplies, they rushed to Tongji Medical College for 22 ventilators which were in bad need in the front line. Mr. WANG Daoxiong, director of the Facilities Section, said, “we need them so badly now, because each one of them means hope of saving life” ! There is love among people in joining hands to contain the merciless epidemic. Through the Special Fund, people from the Alumni Association and the Foundation have felt the special bond between Tongji University and Tongji Medical College who shared the same root of Tongji Medical School founded in 1907.
Besides coordinating with first-line hospitals in providing medical supplies, the Alumni Association and the Education Development Foundation also took an active part in honoring heroes in the fight against the epidemic to promote integrity and humanitarian spirit. Tongji Hero Fund - Award for Members of Support-Wuhan Medical Teams of Tongji Hospitals, initiated by Tongji Alumni Funds and Tongji University Alumni Industry Alliance, was established jointly with Tongji University Alumni Association. The Tongji Hero Fund, managed by Tongji University Education Development Foundation, was to reward “the heroes in harm’s way” in the battle against the coronavirus, i.e. medical staff from hospitals of Tongji University who boldly joined the medical teams to fight the outbreak in Wuhan. “Although the Tongji Hero Fund targets the members of the medical teams in aid of Wuhan, it will be a permanent fund dedicated to rewarding heroic acts of bravery and promoting the spirit of heroism in the new era. It's more of a spiritual honor than a material reward”, said Mr. XU Yongming, a Tongji alumnus and one of the founders and donors of Tongji Hero Fund. As of February 21, Tongji Hero Fund has received a total of CNY 3,738,700. The first round of donations has been used for rewarding 104 medical workers from the affiliated hospitals of Tongji University for their assistance in Hubei Province; and the second round will go to the 50 medical workers from Yangpu District Central Hospital of Tongji University. Each of medical team members has received or will receive CNY 10,000.
Tongji University will continue to assist the fight against the epidemic by procuring more medical supplies and raising more funds when Wuhan and other parts of the country are still faced with severe epidemic situation.
TUAA and TUEDF believe that the strong power of solidarity, mutual assistance and unity will provide both material support and spiritual encouragement to people in the affected areas amid the coronavirus outbreak. Sincere gratitude is given to people at home and abroad who have shown their support, care and love. May the beautiful spring come soon in our homeland!
Source：https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1003/72748.htm?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0
