China News Service, April 21, according to the "Chicago Chinese Forum" report, after the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia, the Greater Chicago Chinese spontaneously plunged into this war epidemic. In the previous period, they donated money and materials to support the anti-epidemic in their home country. At present, the epidemic situation has developed to the United States, and overseas Chinese in the Greater Chicago area are actively involved in local anti-epidemic actions and related work.
The picture shows that Zheng Zheng (middle), chairman of the Hualian Association, presented medical supplies such as masks to the Ninth Police Station where the Chinatown is located. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
As the "leading" society of many local Chinese organizations, the Greater Chicago Area Overseas Chinese Association (referred to as the Chinese Federation) is the first to support each department and agency in Greater Chicago and fight side by side. They saw that in the current epidemic, the public service departments of the Greater Chicago area, such as the police station and the fire brigade, still hold their posts and provide services to residents. In order to provide basic protective equipment for public service personnel, the Hualian Association purchased 20,000 masks from the raised funds and donated them to police stations in the Greater Chicago area.
Zheng Zheng, the chairman of the Hualian Association, said that during the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, taking care of the elderly in the Chinese community is also an inevitable responsibility of the Hualian Association. In the early days of the outbreak, the Hualian Association sent 2,000 masks to the Chiying Building in China Town and the 28th Street Senior Apartments by courier.
In addition, the Chinese Allied Federation also provided a free lunch for the first-line medical staff in conjunction with the American Food and Beverage Federation, responding to the mayor ’s call and supporting the donation of the “Chicago COVID-19 New Crown Emergency Assistance Fund”. So far, the Hualian Association has donated more than 30,000 US dollars. Many overseas Chinese associations, Chinese schools, alumni associations and non-profit social service organizations under the Hualian Association have also stood together with people in mainstream society in various forms and invested in the anti-epidemic that the whole society has been involved in. During the battle.
The picture shows Hu Xiaojun (first right) and members preparing free meals for delivery. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
The catering industry, one of the pillar industries of the Chinese economy, was not absent. In view of the current serious epidemic situation in the United States, personnel fighting on the front lines are especially hard. President Hu Xiaojun and Chairman Chen Mingzhen of the US-China Food and Beverage Association launched an initiative on March 28 to provide free daily working meals to local police and doctors, firefighters and media workers. Their initiative received a broad and enthusiastic response.
The severity of the epidemic in the United States has caused small and medium-sized enterprises, including Chinese businessmen and businessmen, to be hit hard. The losses have been heavy and unsustainable. In order to maintain and revitalize the economy, the government has successively launched subsidies and relief projects such as "economic injury disaster loan" (EIDL) and "salary guarantee plan" (PPP) and other preferential conditions (low interest rates, which can be exempted in compliance with the regulations). Among them, the PPP project is the core of the bailout plan called "CARES", the purpose is to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises not to lay off staff, and this is exactly the urgent problem faced by many Chinese enterprises.
However, due to language and other barriers, many Chinese companies do not understand this new loan plan. Ma Jingyuan, president of "Pioneer Capital Management", thinking about what Chinese people think and worrying about what Chinese people are worried about, offered to provide consulting and application services for the bailout loans of the federal government for the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises. She and the staff worked tirelessly to understand the situation, answer questions, fill in information, and contact the bank, all for free. (David Zhang)