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Wed, 22 Apr 2020 21:16:00 +0000

Berks faculty member coordinates mask donation from Reading Chinese Association admin Wed, 04/22/2020 - 17:16
Hongyan “Red” Yuan, center, an instructional designer at Penn State Berks and member of the board of the Reading Chinese Association, recently helped to coordinate the donation of 1,500 surgical masks to Penn State Health St. Joseph.
Credit: Provided Expand April 23, 2020 Lisa Baldi
WYOMISSING, Pa. — Hongyan “Red” Yuan, an instructional designer at Penn State Berks and member of the board of the Reading Chinese Association (RCA), recently helped to coordinate the donation of 1,500 surgical masks to Penn State Health St. Joseph.

Yuan explained, “The RCA has raised money to purchase personal protective equipment and donate them to (local hospitals), police and fire departments. When I heard that our partner, Penn State Health St. Joseph, was in need of surgical masks too, I reported it to the RCA board and the board quickly decided to donate all we had.”

On April 21, Yuan delivered the surgical masks to Penn State Health St. Joseph.

In July 2015, St. Joseph Regional Health Network joined Penn State Health and was renamed Penn State Health St. Joseph. This was the beginning of a unique collaborative partnership between a Penn State campus and a health network. Through shared common values, with an emphasis on community engagement, and close proximity, the two institutions have joined forces to create a more meaningful impact on the communities they serve, with an emphasis on the City of Reading.

The partnership has led to several exciting new opportunities for students and community members. It has opened the door to a wide variety of internship opportunities for Berks students at the health network. Meanwhile, faculty members have worked with health administrators to develop class projects around the needs of the health organization.