Joanne Kwong, the president of New York City’s Pearl River Mart stores, has worked together with her friend Dr. Olivia Ghaw to facilitate donations of equipment to hospitals. Ghaw delivered the supplies while Joanne took care of the gathering of donations and supplies. Together, they continue to bring in donations through their GoFundMe (started since her second batch of donations), which reached over $50,000 of donations in the first six days. She has also been pivotal in facilitating donations of supplies from small businesses, who simply leave their supplies with her to organize and deliver to hospitals. (Her story is covered in more detail by Canal Street News in this article). Her donation of several thousand masks and gloves to hospitals and clinics is paired with considerate gestures for the health of frontline workers, such as the facilitation of 1,500 brownies donated by Fat Witch Bakery, demonstrating not only concern for the pandemic but also the wellness of frontline workers.

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