15 year old Valerie Xu of Texas tells PEOPLE she had no hesitations about jumping into action when she began to notice a shortage of masks and PPE in hospitals across the U.S.
“This is something that’s happening nationwide,” says the 15-year-old student. “Especially in a first world country like the U.S., these things should not be happening and I think as people in this country, we have a civic duty to try and help these [first responders] any way possible.”
“I’m just really happy that I’m able to make a difference and want to show that Asian Americans are with health workers and we want to unite,” the Addison teen says.
“It means a lot to me because I want to try and inspire a lot of other Asian American women like me,” she explains. “I just want to make a difference. I want to show others that Asian Americans are standing alongside health workers [and] are willing to help contribute.”