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4,800 disposable face masks donated to NMTI
Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer Masako Ono presents a donation of 4,800 disposable face masks to the Northern Marianas Trade Institution yesterday. (CHEVY ALIPIO)
A non-government organization in Taiwan donated yesterday a total of 4,800 disposable face masks to the Northern Marianas Trade Institution for the upcoming school year.
Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer Masako Ono said the foundation has also donated to the Chalan Kanoa Diocese, the Public School System’s Special Education program, the Maturana House of Prayer, and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.
NMTI chief executive officer Agnes McPhetes said the donation “is a great blessing for us because we don’t really have the money to purchase these things, and we definitely need this for our upcoming school year for our students and faculty.”
“We are also working with the COVID-19 Task Force to see what help we could get from them to be prepared when we open our school,” McPhetes added.
The Tzu Chi Foundation has already given protective gear in 86 countries and regions, including the CNMI, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tzu Chi Foundation started 55 years ago in Taiwan and developed into a global NGO that has extended help to over 116 countries around the world.
“I have joined the Tzu Chi Foundation in our Japan branch office as a volunteer since I was in Japan,” Ono said.
McPhetres said that NMTI’s tentative date to open is on Sept. 14, 2020. “The trade school will be doing hands-on learning. We will make sure our students that apply here will get tested and instructors as well. We also have requested thermometers, so that if they come in and out of the facility, they will be checked.”
