A total of 10,000 items of personal protective equipment, or PPE, donated by students in China found their way to various Texas hospitals in Houston, Dallas and College Station on Monday.

The donation was organized by International Leadership of Texas, or ILT, a public charter school system with 19,500 primary school students

The donation was organized by International Leadership of Texas, or ILT, a public charter school system with 19,500 primary school students.

Matilda Orozco, ILT Houston area superintendent, and ILT instructional coach Zhang Hui delivered 4,000 masks and 4,000 pairs of gloves to the hospital HCA Houston Healthcare West.

"One of ILT's missions is to prepare our students for exceptional leadership roles and for the international community. Part of what our students do in our school is 'others before self' projects," Orozco said of the donation.

Students in all 19 of ILT's schools raised money for China when the pandemic first hit there, said Orozco.

"When the second time came around and the pandemic hit the US, students in our sister school in China raised money to buy masks and gloves for our students here in the United States," Orozco added.

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At an event to hand over the supplies, Orozco read out messages from Chinese students to the US students: "We are facing a crisis. Everybody needs help no matter where we are," a Chinese student wrote.

Help without borders

"I believe the virus cannot destroy us," another student's message said.

Speaking about the donations, Orozco said: "At this time, the most important thing we can do is to help each other out and be there for each other."

Megan Marietta, the chief executive officer of HCA Houston Healthcare West, accepted the gift on behalf of the hospital.

"We have been treating COVID-19 patients at the facility," she said.

"This is a wonderful gift, and it's wonderful to see students focus on serving and leadership at such a young age. This will serve our employees and our staff at the facility. It (the gift) is more special that the donation is from China."

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In Dallas, ILT representatives delivered 4,000 masks and 4,000 pairs of gloves to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com