Volunteerism during hard times

Northview students take initiative during this time of need, organizing service projects to provide for those in need.

Junior Pamela Esquivel sews masks to donate to local organizations.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Esquivel, Special

Jennifer Xia, Editor-in-Chief

Community service has always been a strong point amongst Northview students. With dozens of honor societies and clubs like Beta Club along with countless outside service projects, students are always looking for ways to volunteer. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, help is needed more than ever, and even if students are stuck at home right now, many are still finding creative ways to serve their community.

Junior Pamela Esquivel and a couple of her friends recently made a goal to make 1000 masks in a month to donate to local hospitals and organizations. Esquivel understands the risk that healthcare professionals withstand daily in order to treat COVID-19 patients, and because she has the privilege of quarantining at home, she wanted to help those who cannot.

“We wanted to do what we can to help out even under quarantine to make it easier for the workers such as nurses and doctors who are putting themselves at risk,” Esquivel said. 

After learning to use the sewing machine from her father, she and two of her friends got to work, sewing cloth masks with any material they could find at home. So far, the group has donated about 40-50 masks to organizations like VIllage Vets and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. After quickly running out of fabric and elastic, Esquivel set up a GoFundMe page where they have already raised $1,160 for their Sew to Save project. Any donations will go to purchasing supplies for the production of more masks. She is thankful for platforms like GoFundMe so that she can still help out from home.

“Being at home has definitely limited our options to help out and raise awareness for our cause, but it definitely is doable,” Esquivel said.

Like Esquivel, senior Summer Chen is organizing donations with her family to donate to local hospitals. Chen’s family is heavily involved with the donation effort. Her mom, Chunming Hong, lead a group of Chinese families in the Blackstone neighborhood in collecting donations and ordering masks and cards for hospitals such as Northside Gwinnett, Emory Johns Creek, and Scottish Rite.

“We want to donate as many masks as possible to the places that need it most, especially hospitals where they are running low on stock,” Chen said.

The local community has already raised $18,000 in donations which allowed them to purchase 13,000 masks. These have been donated to hospitals as well as individual medical workers. Their progress is only increasing as more shipments are expected to come. The help has spread past Blackstone as more and more families are coming together to donate. The social media platform WeChat has been responsible for fast communication where families with healthcare workers express the need for personal protection supplies. It has allowed families like Chen’s to understand what is happening in hospitals.

Northeast Georgia Medical Center employees accept donations from local volunteers.

Photos courtesy of Jianqing Zheng, Special

“It’s important to help out hospitals and health care workers that are on the frontlines of battling the virus,” Chen said

While Esquivel and Chen are helping those fighting and protecting against the virus, some students are helping those being affected financially. As an outside service project, junior Janice Nam volunteers with City Hope Community. This being her fourth year working with the organization, Nam has established a foundation with the people she works with: a family of seven refugees with five kids from the ages of 6 to 14. Usually, Nam visits the family on Saturdays to tutor, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced her to resort to tutoring through text messages. However, she also worries about the family’s situation. School closures mean less guaranteed meals, and job insecurity means financial insecurity.

“COVID-19 has affected most aspects of their lives,” Nam said. “COVID-19 has been tough on everyone, but I think it’s fair to say that lower income-families are disproportionately affected.”

In order to help while she is stuck at home, Nam and a friend set up a GoFundMe page for City Hope Community. The target goal grew to $500 as their initial goal of $200 was reached in a day. She hopes the little bit she can do at home can go a long way for those struggling right now.

“I just want to help these families ease their financial stress as much as I can,” Nam said. “Monetary donations are the most tangible way of helping others. And now that we can’t help them as much in terms of tutoring/other services, it’s really one of the only ways we can help them.”

Junior Janice Nam helps out Fadia, a member of a refugee family, with her homework as part of City Hope Community.

Photo courtesy of Janice Name, Special

While she does hope that the GoFundMe raises a lot of money for the organization, she also wants to highlight the situation a lot of refugees go through: escaping danger and senseless violence. She feels empathetic to those who must flee their homes for unimaginable reasons.

“I also hope that I’m raising awareness for refugees,” Nam said. “Hopefully I’m shedding light on them in a good way and that other people are able to be more empathetic and willing to help them.”

With this work, Nam wants to establish how important it is to help, not only because of the global pandemic but in general. Because she has lived in an area like Johns Creek for so long, she recognizes the privilege she has and focuses it into helping the less fortunate. Because the world is in such an unprecedented and unfortunate time right now, Nam, Esquivel, and Chen all emphasize the importance of helping those less fortunate.

“When other people are hurting, facing adversities, and struggling, it’s our obligation to help them,” Nam said.  “Because it’s the right thing to do. Because that could be you. Because kindness breeds kindness.”

Links to Pamela Esquivel’s Sew to Save GoFundMe and Janice Nam’s Serving our Neighbors in Clarkston GoFundMe are here in the event of a reader wanting to donate.