It started with 100 protective masks and one Indian Hill School District family.
Meet the Choi brothers – Indian Hill Middle School seventh-grade student Daniel and Indian Hill High School junior Allen. Together with their mother, Young Ju Kim, and their father, Yoon Choi, they have worked tirelessly to produce protective masks for families they have never met. The donations were for the residents staying at Cincinnati’s Ronald McDonald House.
At least, that is where the first 100 masks were donated.
“After hearing first-hand from the staff at Ronald McDonald about the serious shortage of masks, we decided to make and donate a further 100 masks to a hospice and a senior center,” explained Allen Choi. “We noticed that a lot of people are going through extremely tough times because of the coronavirus, and therefore we wanted to help out the community in some way.”
Allen Choi said the family felt called to action after seeing a news story about the shortage.
The Choi family produced masks made of two sanitized cotton cloths and a washable filter. He says the family found support through the Indian Hill High School counseling team, School Nurse Shelley Hoyer, and Indian Hill Middle School Assistant Principal Cash Hayden.
“We received a warm welcome from a staff member at the Ronald McDonald House and knew that the toil and hardship were worth it,” said Allen Choi. “I am so glad to have started this project with my family for those who are not as lucky as we are.”
Photo caption: The Choi family with donations for the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati.