Alhambra Mayor Ross Maza (C), former Mayor Stephen Sham (2nd, L) pose to recommend local residents wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Alhambra, Los Angeles, the United States on April 5, 2020. (Xinhua)
"Chinese Americans are a part of the Alhambra community, so we are donating masks to help our local community and show our unity as one."
LOS ANGELES, April 8 (Xinhua) -- In the U.S. city of Alhambra on Sunday, normally a pleasant and welcoming community in Southern California, the day dawned cold, miserable and rainy.
The gray skies and slick, sparsely-populated streets gave cold comfort to the few souls willing to brave the elements -- and the lockdown order -- to visit their downsized local farmer's market to buy fresh fare.
But, come rain or shine, that did not deter Stephen Sham, former mayor of Alhambra and now founder and president of Chinese Americans United for Safer Communities (CAUSC), from showing up to do his part to stop the spread of COVID-19 with 1,250 masks donated by Chinese Americans in the area.
"Chinese Americans are a part of the Alhambra community, so we are donating masks to help our local community and show our unity as one," Sham told Xinhua.
With the help of Eleanor Wong and other concerned citizens, CAUSC contacted the Alhambra City Council with a plan to help combat COVID-19 in their local community.
CAUSC teamed up with Alhambra's current Mayor Ross Maza, Vice Mayor David Mejia, City Councilmember Jeffrey Maloney, and School Board Trustee Wing Ho to tackle Alhambra's popular Certified Farmer's Market together.
Since food is an essential service, city officials opted not to close the market, but use it instead as an opportunity to teach people how to shop there safely.
"Many of our local farmers depend on these farmer's markets to survive," Wing Ho told Xinhua. "So we want to support them but do it in a way that does not put our community at risk."
With an eye to maintaining proper social distancing, they skipped the usual political handshaking and baby-kissing and handed out packets of protective masks instead.
When asked why they risked volunteering in person, Mayor Maza said, "We came out today because it's important for our community to see that their city council and mayor's offices are here for them -- that our hearts are in the right place."
"We are all effected by this. We are all in this together and must all take proper precautions," he noted.
Vice Mayor Mejia added, "We're doing it because we care."
They encouraged their citizens to follow proper protocol: wearing their masks every time they go out in public, washing their hands frequently, and practicing proper social distancing of six to eight feet with everyone.
A woman receives masks donated by Chinese American community to local residents in Alhambra, Los Angeles, the United States on April 5, 2020. (Xinhua)
Mejia, also a veteran police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, has a unique perspective.
"With police work, you know who the bad guy is -- he's the guy with the gun," he said. "But with this virus, you don't know who has it or where the threat is coming from."
With a drastic shortage of face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, donated masks are worth their weight in gold.
"I have not been able to get hand sanitizer or face masks," said Katherine Torres, a local real estate agent and the president of the Monterey Park Women's Club. "I'm pretty active and if I can't get them, it must be much harder for the women in their 60s, 70s and 80s. I drove down here to get some masks for them and I'll hand deliver them."
Sham told Xinhua that he chose the name "Chinese Americans United for Safer Communities" to signify local Chinese Americans' powerful desire to support Alhambra and their local American friends and neighbors.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the world and our local community. We can only get through this if we all work together and all of us do what needs to be done," Sham said.
He pointed out that nearly half of Alhambra's residents are Chinese Americans and the Chinese American community has come out very strong to combat the virus and made many donations of supplies and masks to the city.
In fact, he said, the Chinese American community in Alhambra was the first to take precautions, even before the rest of California and the country did.
"Many of them already knew the correct public health protocols from their friends and family members back in China, so they knew how to handle this. They were more receptive to being extra cautious, to wearing masks and maintaining proper social distancing," he said.
"They set a great example for the rest of us," he added.
Alhambra officials are determined to do their part to get through this as soon as possible so beleaguered small business owners can get back to work to stave off bankruptcy.
The mayor told Xinhua, "The economic impact in just four weeks has been horrendous. Businesses can't survive weeks without income. But it was essential to make this sacrifice upfront so we can get it over with sooner and get back to work."
"If we do what we are told by our state and local officials, we will get through this together. It's been effective so far."
Despite its devastation, the vice mayor believes there may be hope and a silver-lining to this pandemic.
He feels the current pain and suffering will not have been in vain if people are willing to take these painful lessons seriously and use them to improve lives and health in the long run.
"It's a game changer. We can't take anything for granted," he said. "We need to be accountable for ourselves and how we live our lives from now on … Hopefully we can learn from this."
(Article by Julia Pierrepont III) ■