Hello, my name is Eileen Lee, and I am fifteen years old and I go to Saratoga High School. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a significant disorder in the past few months. Even with shelter in place, more and more people are getting infected and suffering both mentally and physically. This prompted me to think about what I can do to help the world to go back to the normal life.

Only a few months ago, Korea was the country with the most confirmed cases; however, despite the effort to stop the spread, the US climbed to be the country with the most confirmed cases. How did this happen? How was Korea able to control the spread? I did some research and realized that there is one main factor. Korea was able to secure an ample number of protective masks and most valuable PPE and personal protective equipment and implemented the public requirement of wearing a mask at the early stage.

In the US, we still face a significant shortage in all PPE and healthcare workers, and people with unfortunate circumstances, such as homeless communities, are at risk. They should not have to risk their lives because of the need for masks and protection. Most hospitals and medical offices do not have sufficient supplies to manage the patients, and several communities and shelters don't have the supplies needed to protect them thoroughly. To provide the most help I can give, I have decided to sell protective face masks. My priority is to donate masks to health care programs, hunger programs, senior homes, and whoever needs them the most. I asked my dad and a few friends to help me start this project “BODO” (meaning “Buy One, Donate One”), which means every mask I sell, one will be donated to those in need. Although this may seem minimal to the great disaster, this will help fight the pandemic step by step. I hope you can try to be a help to the community by buying and donating one mask.