As WVU Medicine prepares for a surge in COVID-19 patients, two Morgantown-area businesses donated 10,000 facemasks to help boost personal protective equipment supplies for healthcare providers.
The masks were donated on behalf of Fusion Japanese Steakhouse and Oryza Asian Grill, restaurants with multiple regional locations. The donation was largely organized by Joe Xiao, who acts as president of both businesses, and Jason Wu and Amy Lin, married partners who own and operate Fusion Japanese Steakhouse in Morgantown. All three have monitored the pandemic closely since the initial outbreak in China, where they all have family and friends.
“Having witnessed the lack of a sufficient supply of PPE for frontline medical workers, they wanted to – in a small way – show their love to our local community that has supported their businesses over the years and especially to the heroes in our hospitals, who are risking their lives every day to save others,” Matt Twigg, a spokesman for the businesses, said.
Lin, in particular, empathizes with healthcare workers as they face unforeseen challenges. She is a former nurse who has seen many employees move on to work at area hospitals.
The donated masks were purchased from China, where the availability of supplies has increased as the rate of infection continues to decline.
“We are so grateful for the generous donations from Fusion Japanese Steakhouse, Oryza Asian Grill, and others to help us prepare for the rising number of COVID-19 cases in West Virginia,” Judie Charlton, M.D., WVU Medicine chief medical officer, said. “So many civic organizations and community groups have offered to help, and their support means a great deal to our leadership and employees as we face this unprecedented health crisis together.”
In response to the growing number of community members seeking to help WVU deliver vital services during the COVID-19 pandemic, the WVU Foundation created an online giving page that makes it easy to provide philanthropic support for personal protective equipment and other areas of special need.
Fusion Japanese Steakhouse and Oryza Asian Grill locations remain open for takeout and delivery in an effort to provide meals for families and preserve jobs for employees amid a statewide stay-at-home order enacted to curb the spread of the virus.
Their in-kind donations were made through the WVU Foundation, a nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.