KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon declared a state of emergency for the city for the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, many Chinese and Chinese American residents in Knoxville and surrounding areas formed the East Tennessee Chinese/Chinese American Care (ETCCAC) group and started fundraising for the city, according to a release from the group.
They said they wanted to directly donate to Knox County COVID-19 Response Fund, organized by United Way of Greater Knoxville, Alliance for Better Nonprofits and East Tennessee Foundation, to “support local non-profits providing services to individuals in our community affected by the coronavirus crisis.”
At 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 22, within 24 hours of the team fundraising page being published, ETCCA surpassed its $10,000 goal, with 105 donors raising $10,525.
“We had a donor from Guizhou, China, more than 8031 miles away, who gave us money, only because she led a group here for Destination Imagination Global Finals back in 2014 and received help from one of our community members,” said Rachel Rui, one of the founders of the ETCCAC. “We also had a UT freshmen’s parent who I met in Shanghai two months ago that gave us money to support. We want to do more and we will because we are all in this together. “
The United Way of Greater Knoxville thanked the group for its fundraising efforts.
The group said it is now working on donating personal protective equipment to medical professionals, first responders and anyone else in need.
“We are trying to locate the highest standards products that meet the hospital’s standards to donate,” said Lei Xu, one of the founders of ETCCAC. “Currently the whole group is mobilized to do three things – locate manufactures that can meet FDA requirements, logistic planning and getting to know hospital needs. We are hoping to have more updates soon.”
Qi Sun, said the group was inspired by the Volunteer Spirit to work as "self-formed change agents, committed to actively engaging with other local community members in building an equal, just, open, diverse, and thriving community through educational programs, campaigns, and initiatives that help meet the local community’s needs.”
“Three days ago, we were a group of seven, not sure how to help Knoxville,” Rui said. “Now we are a group of 180 volunteers, ever-growing, committed to following the city’s guidance to do everything we can to help.”
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