KANSAS CITY, MO — Amid the coronavirus pandemic, people are rising to the challenge of helping neighbors in need – with everything from personal protective equipment to clothing to scientific research.
Thuy Tien Dang, a nurse practitioner and wife of a Kansas City, Missouri, firefighter, was inspired several weeks ago to start making masks when her husband told her they were out of protective gear at the fire station.
She started a group called “Women Neighbors Mask Project.” Friends, neighbors and relatives jumped in and started making masks with medical-grade fabric. They have donated more than 3,000 masks to 33 fire stations, the courthouse in Olathe, Kansas, and the Missouri Division of Family Services.
The Vietnamese American Community of Greater Kansas City donated $500 toward the project.
Dr. Ann Modrcin is another contributor and organizer. Arlena Garza with Johnson County Upholstery and Sally Collier with the Weston Quilt Club also played a key role.
Additionally, some homeless people in Kansas City, Missouri, have some much-needed clothes thanks to the Kansas City World Outreach Lions. Some Lions Clubs in the metro are collecting clothes and donating them to the clothes pantry at the Neighbor2Neighbor program at 3551 Wabash Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. The clothes are free to the homeless. Men's and women's jeans and shirts are in need. Donations can be dropped off at Neighbor2Neighbor weekdays between 9 a.m. and noon.
Joan Conaway, a scientific investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri, also was elected to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Her research with her co-investigator and husband, Ron Conaway, and her discoveries about DNA could lead to treatments and cures for people battling incurable diseases. Conaway is the distinguished chair at Stowers and an affiliate professor in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
During the pandemic, 41 Action News wants to spotlight people, organizations and companies helping the community. To share these stories, use #WeSeeYouKSHB on social media.
