FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 20, 2020

 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Tanisha Jumper, Media and Communications,tjumper@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-5152
Maria Lee, Media and Communications, maria.lee@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-2054

 

Fuzhou Donates Medical Supplies to Tacoma

--Two Cities Share 26-Year Sister City Relationship--

TACOMA, Wash. -- Fuzhou, capital of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian and Tacoma's Sister City since 1994, has donated 70,000 disposable medical masks and 500 disposable medical gowns to help curb the spread of COVID-19 locally. 

"We are very grateful for this gesture of support and wish our friends in Fuzhou well, as we all come together globally in response to this public health and economic crisis," said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards. "Our relationship with Fuzhou, the ancestral home of many Chinese-Americans who settled in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century, has been deep and enduring, and I look forward to the day when I can again share my appreciation with them in person."

The donated disposable medical masks and gowns will be distributed throughout the local community to help mitigate the impacts of ongoing global supply chain disruptions caused by the persistent and pressing demand for personal protective equipment.

Local home healthcare providers will receive disposable medical masks as well as gowns.

Disposable medical masks will also be distributed to other entities involved in the local COVID-19 response, including shelters for those experiencing homelessness, community food banks, community and senior centers, daycare providers, small businesses, the Tacoma Sister Cities Council, Tacoma Public Schools, the Tacoma Dome, and the Greater Tacoma Convention Center. 

The remainder of the disposable medical masks will be held in reserve by the City of Tacoma in preparation for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 in the fall and winter months. 

In late January, the City of Tacoma had received requests for medical resources and supplies from its international partners in Mianyang and Fuzhou, prompting the Tacoma Sister Cities Council to quickly mobilize and provide local community members who wished to help with a secure way to donate funds. More than $1,200 was raised to address the sudden and surging need that existed in China at that time. 

In early February, the Tacoma Fire Department was also able to donate 15,000 disposable medical masks from its reserves, with shipment handled by the Washington State Panda Foundation.

The City of Tacoma received thank you letters from its international partners in Mianyang and Fuzhou at the end of February, followed by offers of assistance in March.


(Photo Courtesy of City of Tacoma)

More information on the Sister Cities program is available at cityoftacoma.org/sistercities.

 

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