Coca-Cola executive organizes donations in US for coronavirus fight

When Curt Ferguson, Coca-Cola's president of Greater China and Korea, left Shanghai for the US about 10 days ago, he gave his last two face masks to his driver at the airport.

Face masks have become a precious gift in China since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia. Ferguson has realized that, and he hopes he can help send more masks and other protective gear to Chinese people.

In a warehouse in San Leandro, California, 1.8 million surgical masks and 80,000 disposable isolation gowns, worth $780,000, are ready to be shipped to China, thanks to MedShare, an Atlanta, Georgia-based humanitarian aid organization with the support of Coca-Cola and UPS.

Ferguson helped organize a donation event in the warehouse on Monday, where executives of MedShare and UPS as well as volunteers and community members came together to show solidarity with Chinese people.

Messages reading "Everything will be OK" and "I'll be there for you" in Chinese and English were attached on the boxes of the supplies.

"I think the (Chinese) government's fighting it and everybody's resolved to fight this thing," Ferguson said. "I think the social media helps a lot in China, because people know enough to protect themselves and isolate themselves. If nobody goes out now without a mask and taking precautions, I think that's going to help immensely."

Having lived in Shanghai for four years, Ferguson said it's "amazing that the supply chain has held up really well, with everybody still delivering".

But the "one critical need" right now is face masks and protective equipment, he said.

Despite factories in China working around the clock to meet the growing demand for medical masks, the country is still in dire need of masks. The World Health Organization even warned of a global "chronic shortage" of personal protective equipment.

"One of the things we learn is that you can't wait. You have to have these products ready and all the time," said Charles Redding, MedShare's CEO and president.

This latest relief effort of Med-Share is made possible with a $500,000 grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation and free air and ground transportation by UPS.

The shipment of supplies is expected to arrive on Friday in Shanghai, where they will be delivered to both Shanghai and Hubei province.

MedShare is working with the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation and Shanghai Charity Foundation to distribute the supplies in Shanghai.

The supplies for Hubei province will be distributed through the organization's partners at Project Hope, an international health care organization in Maryland.

"We recognize that the Chinese are doing all they can to help fight this disease, but we also recognize that they can't do it alone," said Redding. "It's got to take a lot of great people coming together to help with this issue."