Harvey School News

A group of Harvey's international students boosted Northern Westchester Hospital’s inventory of personal protective equipment Thursday, June 4, when they presented hospital officials with the first 6,000 of a planned donation of 10,000 masks.

Harvey sophomore Evan Xu and his parents worked to purchase the masks from suppliers and had them delivered from Shanghai, China. Megan Chi, a friend of Harvey’s Chinese community, helped coordinate with the parents and the school to collect the funds needed to purchase the supplies. Recalling an old Chinese saying, Ms. Chi said, “When disaster strikes, help comes from all sides.” The school's Director of International Programs Alex Lindquist said Harvey’s Chinese international students and their parents made the donation because they recalled how so many friends from around the world offered to help them when the pandemic struck their country.

Cathy Ye, who will be a senior at Harvey next fall, was glad to see the donation effort come to fruition. “As an international student, I have received kindness and hospitality from my friends and people who don't know me in this community,” said Cathy, whose hometown is Beijing and has attended Harvey since freshman year. Living on campus during the school week and staying with a host family on weekends and holidays has made Cathy feel at home in America. “Throughout my three years in the U.S., I see this area as my own and truly care about it,” Cathy said.

Vicky Zheng, who came to Harvey this year as a freshman, put the donation of the masks into perspective for us all.  She said, “Disasters have no mercy, but humans do. By staying strong together, I believe we can defeat this in no time.”

Harvey thanks the following international students and their families for their thoughtfulness and generosity: Evan XU. Vicky Zheng, Jasmine Zhang, Charles Zuo, Sid Zhang, Kai Zhao, Vivian Shen, Cathy Ye, Renee Chen, and William Wang

The remaining 4,000 masks are expected to arrive within a week or two at Northern Westchester Hospital.