Tacoma Receives Donation of 70,000 Masks From Sister City

TACOMA, WA — City leaders in Tacoma are celebrating a massive donation of medical masks and gowns from their Sister City half a world away.

Wednesday, the city announced it had received a donation of 70,000 disposable medical masks and 500 medical gowns from the city of Fuzhou, the capital of China's Fujian province.

The masks and gowns are now being distributed through the community to healthcare providers, homeless shelters, food banks, community centers and other community groups helping to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The donation was large enough, the city says they can afford to set aside some masks to be used later, in case theirs a resurgence of the virus in the fall or winter.

City leaders say they're extremely thankful for the generous donation.

"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," Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said in a statement. "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."

Fuzhou received assistance from Tacoma earlier this year, before the pandemic came to America. Back in February the Tacoma Fire Department sent over 15,000 medical masks from their reserves to Fuzhou in their time of need. The city also set up a fundraiser which raised more than $1,200 to help Fuzhou in January when the virus was surging in China.

Fuzhou and Tacoma have been Sister Cities since 1994. Tacoma has 13 additional Sister Cities from Biot, France to Vladivostok, Russia and George, South Africa.

You can learn more about Tacoma's Sister Cities program on their website at cityoftacoma.org/sistercities.