PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A Pembroke Pines student is collecting masks to assist deputies and healthcare workers on the front lines against COVID-19.
fourteen-year-old Saumya Narang started a GoFundMe account and has raised over $600 in an effort to purchase masks to donate.
Narang said, “I’m honestly scared because I never saw anything like this coming. It was just out of nowhere, we’re in this pandemic. It’s not just an epidemic where our country’s just solely infected. It’s this entire world thing.”
After the death of Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy Shannon Bennett, Narang decided it was time to provide help.
“We’ve been watching a lot of the news with our parents, so we found out that the Broward County deputy died from the coronavirus, and we wanted to do something to not only help healthcare workers but also our other first responders such as police officers,” Narang said.
To this point, she said she still has much more fundraising to go.
“I’ve bought 300 masks, and I’m distributing them evenly between the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Davie Police Department, which is my local police department and Memorial Hospital,” she said.
Narang’s 9-year-old sister Siyona also made thank you cards for healthcare workers at the hospital and deputies at BSO.
Siyona read one of her letters. It said, “Thanks for all you and your fellow police partners are doing to stop coronavirus. Hopefully you guys are doing your best to stop the spread.”
Saumya expressed the importance of first responders having proper protection.
“I’m hoping that our first responders can protect themselves from this virus and not get infected themselves because they’re just trying to help us. It just keeps them safe,” she said.
Saumya’s dad Jay said, “I was excited that to think that my daughter is processing the information she’s getting from the media and she’s wanting to help– every parent’s dream come true.”
To support Saumya’s cause, you can donate at her GoFundMe page here.
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