Princess Karen Cantrell and Joey Zhou of United Nations Assoc. Donate 1,250 Masks to JFK Hospital

Indio, California, USA. 20th April, 2020. Princess Karen Cantrell, Chairman of the Coachella Valley Chapter of the United Nations Association (UNA) of the United States, and Joey Zhou, TV host and Honorary member of the UNA, delivered 1,250 surgical masks to JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio as a donation to help address the shortage of protective masks for health care workers at the hospital.

“Thank you so much, this means so much to us,” says Gary Honts, the CEO of JFK Memorial Hospital, adding "it’s hard to put a value on such a generous gift. You can’t go on the internet and find them anywhere, so having this is just like receiving gold today. It is very important to our health care workers to keep them safe, so that we can keep all our communities safe.”

As Cantrell handed the surgical masks to Honts and his staff, she stated, “We were blessed to receive these 1,250 medical face masks from a Chinese-American TV host, Joey Zhou, who is one of our honorary members. We would like to do more for the hospital and get a wish list of what you need, so we can to continue to support JFK Hospital.” “Well thank you very much that’s very kind of you,” replied Honts.

Joey Zhou is joined by two of his friends in the community who have also been actively donating to hospitals, Jason Lin and Yueming Chen of the Kiwanis Club and Julie Shen of JMK Modeling Media Academy. Jason Lin and Yueming Chen have donated over 50,000 medical masks with their team to local hospitals on behalf of the Kiwanis Club.

Julie Shen and her team have been donating medical masks also, including the more protective N95 medical masks, which are very much needed and in demand, making deliveries to local hospitals and health care facilities who are facing shortages.

Princess Karen Cantrell is the owner of Lady Golf Fashion House in Palm Desert which is now closed due the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders. During this time, she has turned her store into a place to collect donations from the community and then distributing food and supplies to food banks, charities, and those in need.

Cantrell shared her memory of a woman that she will never forget, who was sent her way for food.

“She was so grateful, she just fell down on her knees in the parking lot - it was so traumatic, she was just crying and crying. You want to hug and comfort them, even though you know you can't right now," Cantrell said as she breaks down in tears herself recalling the story. She says she hopes more open their hearts and give to those on the front lines and on the brink, “It means everything to them, they’re hungry, they’re scared, they need your help more than anything.”

Cantrell says she is receiving food donations, pet food, medical supplies Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., but they must be left outside her store. You just need to call or email ahead so she is prepared to receive them. She and her staff will then distribute them among local food banks, charities, and hospitals.

Joey Zhou has been a talk show host for many years interviewing guests and asking his signature question, "What’s your beautiful life?". “They usually tell me their beautiful life is love, family, and to share happiness,” says Zhou. But since COVID -19 Asian Americans have said they have not felt love but xenophobia. He was recently interviewed by Kitty Alvarado of NBC News about his experiences in the Asian American community during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans, as well as his generosity of donations to the community.

“This is my home, this is our home,” says Zhou, "this is not the time to hate but help and heal. This is not the time to look for the virus came from, but time that we’re united together.” By giving back to the community is one of the ways he hopes to make change.

“Yesterday I sent another 1,000 medical masks to Palm Springs, next week I send more,” said Zhou. “We need love and trust right now, and that’s what I’m doing - to hold hope for a better tomorrow." In the meantime, he is rallying his Asian American friends to help send more surgical masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals. “We will have a beautiful life, the beautiful life is coming.”