14-year-old Davie girl helps get masks to front-line workers.
Davie girl, 14, gets masks to front-line workers
DAVIE – The news about people on the front lines risking their lives in this scary new coronavirus world hit home with Saumya Narang.
So the Davie teen did her part to help: She raised more than $1,000 to buy 300 N95 masks.
This week, 14-year-old Saumya and little sister Siyona, 9, delivered the masks to people on the front lines
On Monday, the girls dropped off dozens of masks at the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Fort Lauderdale and Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines.
And Wednesday, someone from the Davie Police Department was supposed to stop by their home to pick up the donated masks.
“I do think this is crazy,” Saumya said of the pandemic that has closed schools and malls and changed life as we know it. “I never expected to face this, ever.”
Saumya, an eighth-grader at American Heritage in Plantation, remembers reading about the killer flu from 1918 in her history books. “But I never thought I myself would be facing something like this.”
Saumya raised $1,020 within one week after setting up a GoFundMe page.
She hopes to keep raising money for more masks, she said. Her donation goal: $3,000.
Her dentist mom has talked to her about the mask shortage, and she’s seen plenty of news coverage as well.
“She’s hearing from her mom what’s going on,” said her father, Jay Narang. “And she sits here and watches the news all the time. She said, ‘Dad, I want to do something about this.’”
Saumya has been debating whether to pursue a career as an astronaut or a health care worker.
The coronavirus pandemic has given her a little push to join the medical battle lines here on earth.
“This crisis has really inspired me to go into health care,” Saumya said.
Like others, she thinks we will all learn from this latest scare.
“I think the virus will make us more prepared for any kind of pandemic we might face,” she said. “And I think people will be more careful about their health. Because this virus just came out of nowhere.”