Davie sisters saw first responders needed masks — so they found a way to donate them
In between taking online classes and baking brownies in her Davie home, 14-year-old Saumya Narang decided she wanted to lend a hand in helping first responders protect themselves from COVID-19 infection.
What spurred the thought of collecting masks was the death of Shannon Bennett, the 39-year-old Broward Sheriff’s deputy who contracted the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. If Bennett didn’t have enough protection, Saumya thought, didn’t it make sense that his colleagues didn’t either?
“I’ve been watching a lot of quarantine news with my parents,” said Saumya, an eighth-grade student at the private American Heritage School in Plantation. “I realized that it’s not just healthcare workers who need protective equipment. It’s also first responders like police officers.”
In just two weeks, family, teachers and friends have helped her raise $625 through a GoFund Me page. This has allowed her to buy 300 KN95 respirator masks, a type of FDA-approved substitute for N95 respirators. These filter about 95% of airborne particles, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
She has donated the masks she’s gotten hold of so far to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Davie Police Department and Memorial Hospital West. Her 9-year-old sister, Siyona, helps write handmade “thank you” cards with themed jokes (For example: Q. Why r policeman very good at volley ball? A. Because they know how to serve and protect).
“I called so many [mask] suppliers until I finally found one,” said Saumya, who said her dad helped her find someone who could supply the masks. “No one directly told me that they needed protective equipment but I know from the news ... that there is a lack of protective equipment that is necessary.”
Her mother is a dentist in Broward County and her father owns a technology business. He said this was all his daughter’s idea.
“All I did was watch a lot of news, and she was sitting with Daddy,’’ said Jay Narang, Saumya’s father. “I promise you I had nothing to do with it.’’
Saumya doesn’t know if she wants to be a doctor or an astronaut when she grows up, but right now she thinks she might want to be a journalist. In the meantime, the two sisters hope to keep raising funds and donating masks to frontline workers.
“We don’t have enough of these masks for health workers and health responders,” she said. “They’re keeping us safe from this pandemic.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
