Spaniards successfully raise funds for mask donation

Protective masks are donated to Spain by members with "Masks 4 Spain." Courtesy of the interviewees

A GROUP of Spanish residents living in Shenzhen launched a fundraiser Wednesday night to raise 60,000 yuan (US$8456.66) toward purchasing, in cooperation with the Spanish Consulate in Guangzhou, the first batch of 5,000 face masks to be shipped to Spain to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic there.

As of midnight yesterday, they had raised a total of 113,796.81 yuan.

It all started with the initiative of a Spanish national who has been living in China for almost 10 years. Wanting to help his home country, he attempted to donate medical materials to Spain through his company. However, the process of doing so turned out to be complicated, so he asked his Spanish friends here in Shenzhen for help.

After deliberating, they found the delivery could be made through the use of diplomatic mail bags belonging to the Spanish Consulate in Guangzhou, which can transport up to 5,000 masks per bag. From there, they started fundraising.

“This is something spontaneous that happened in a WeChat group that our friends have in common. We are cooperating with many people. On the evening of Wednesday we set up the WeChat group ‘Masks 4 Spain’ to coordinate how to do it. Once figured out, we started to invite people into the group via QR code. This is in cooperation with the consulate,” one organizer named Alberto told Shenzhen Daily.

Fundraising began at around 11 p.m. Wednesday, and by 11:47 p.m. the next day, they had already raised 67,650.65 yuan, exceeding their objective of 60,000 yuan. They went on to purchase 9,839 masks at the cost of 64,998 yuan.

They started the second round of donations Friday, with an objective of raising 25,000 yuan to buy more medical equipment. As of midnight yesterday, they had raised a total of 113,796.81 yuan, including the money raised from the first round.

The group told Shenzhen Daily yesterday that they have temporarily halted fundraising to better organize the second purchase of medical equipment with the amount and find a better way of receiving the money donated by people. 

They are also coordinating with other initiatives in Spain to try to purchase bigger quantities of sanitary materials from China.

The people who have donated money include both Chinese and Spanish living across the country.

Eight-year-old Chinese girl Song Mingxuan (Michelle) living in Shanghai donated 2,000 yuan with permission from her mom. Together with the donation, the little girl sent a voice message to her Spanish teacher Laura Guillén Vicent saying, “I can give them 2,000 (yuan). This is my money and I help many people. I wish them to be happy and good.”

“She is a student at the kindergarten where Laura works. The donation is her lucky money. Laura has always been very nice to Michelle. Now her motherland Spain is going through the same epidemic which we have gone through. She hopes to do something for Spain, and believes that if everyone in the world joins hands, we can fight the virus,” said Song’s mom, adding that the donation was Song’s prerogative and she respects and agreed with her will.

Zheng Huiyu and her Spanish husband Francisco Javier Gracia Jurado living in Shenzhen donated 400 yuan on Friday. “A Spanish friend invited us into the group and we donated the 400 yuan. We donated because we have family in Spain, and when China was going through a hard time due to the epidemic, the overseas Chinese in Spain also gathered together to donate for China. Now it’s our turn to help,” said Zheng.

Feng Zhan in Shenzhen learned about the donation through the WeChat group of Shenzhen Spanish Corner (Rincón Shenzhen) and donated 100 yuan on Thursday. “I have stayed in Spain for three months, so I have friends and teachers there. I contributed a bit of what I can to help them fight the pandemic and return to normal life as soon as possible.”

Isidoro Collado Charco, a football coach living in Nanjing, also donated for the initiative. “I got to know about the fundraising initiative from a group of Spanish football coaches. I contributed my little part because I have lived through the situation here in China and I believe all of us should do our part because all of us have family in Spain and it’s our motherland.”

“Even though this started with the initiative of a group of friends to help with what they can, it turns out that there are many more people who have gotten involved to contribute their part. So, personally, I don’t like to attribute the good functioning of this initiative to a few people, but to all the people who have contributed their available resources including money, time, knowledge and contacts,” said Alfredo, one of the organizers.

All relevant fundraising information has been disclosed in the group for transparency.

A poster of the initiative.