Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Briana Zhong, Grade 10 Pre-IB student at St. Robert Catholic High School and her sister, Athena Zhona, York Catholic District School Board graduate and third-year medical sciences student at Western University, knew they wanted to help. Between the months of June and October, together, they put together more than 350 care packages to those in need in their communities.
“The past few months have been difficult for everyone, and we wanted to remind our community that we are here for each other,” Athena told YorkRegion.com. “We decided to assemble hygiene-care packages to ensure that people can access essential items during these challenging times.”
The packages consisted of shampoos, conditioners, toothbrushes, dental floss, soap, face masks, tissue boxes, pencils, activity sheets, hand sanitizers, $250 worth of Metro grocery gift cards with the support of sponsors and more. Together, Athena, Briana and their friends, donated the packages to patients and front-line heroes, at-risk and homeless youth, seniors and more.
Organizations or individuals who would like to support the initiative can contact Athena and Briana at giftsthatsmile@gmail.com or through GoFundMe.
York Catholic is so proud of you! Thank you for nurturing and inspiring hope.
For more details, read their story on YorkRegion.com.
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