SAN ANTONIO – A few months ago, students from San Antonio wrote letters of support to people affected by the coronavirus in San Antonio’s sister city, Wuxi, China.
Those letters were sent before COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Bexar County.
Since the virus has spread around the globe, students in Wuxi are responding with a message of their own.
“We’re told that you have a serious epidemic and we really care about you,” said Hanfeng Gu, a student who lives in Wuxi China.
After hearing the U.S. was greatly impacted by the pandemic, students from Wuxi wanted to help.
“When we heard that you're running out of medical masks, we decided to raise money,” Gu said.
The students in China raised enough money to send 4,000 masks for schools in San Antonio that are involved with the nonprofit, Summer of Service. The nonprofit works to educate kids through community service learning and travel abroad. Local families also host students from other countries. Due to COVID-19, San Antonio families could not host students from Wuxi this year.
Wuxi student, Hanfeng Gu, stayed with a San Antonio family in 2018.
“We really appreciate them for their kindness. They treat us like if we’re families,” Gu said.
Gu, who was involved in sending masks to San Antonio, said he understands the severity of the situation.
Gu said in Wuxi, China, life was different a few months ago.
“It was really serious. We had to stay at home and the government told us not to go anywhere because it would be quite dangerous to do so,” he said.
Gu said things are getting better and slowly back to normal.
According to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, there are more than 84,000 coronavirus cases in China.
Gu hopes people can come together during these difficult times.
“While mountains and rivers separate us, we enjoy the moonlight under the same sky. So, let’s unite and accept that happiness to come. We really hope that you will get better soon,” Gu said.
Click here for more coronavirus coverage on KSAT.com.