MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As cities across the Mid-South closed non-essential businesses to fight the spread of the coronavirus, Bang Nguyen and his family took to social media.
But they weren’t expressing concern about their nail salon — they were more worried about healthcare workers.
“We tried to reach out to all the nail salons and try to get them to donate gloves and masks for the hospitals,” Nguyen said.
So far, he says nail salons from the Memphis area and North Mississippi donated 50,000 gloves and around 7,000 masks.
He said he’s been overwhelmed by the Vietnamese community. Most of their shops are closed and can’t do any business, so Nguyen said they are donating whatever they have remaining.
“Every nail shop donated something to the effort,” Nguyen said.
Tuesday, he and his buddy loaded up another trunk full of supplies.
They said they’ve dropped off the supplies at several hospitals over the past week, while some nail salons have donated directly to their customers who work in the medical field.
“It’s about the nurses, the doctors and all of the medical people fighting on the front line, and they don’t have the gear they need to be safe,” Nguyen said. “We just have to come together and support each other.”
They say they will continue their efforts as long as they’re needed.
If you want to help their efforts, you can drop off donations at their church, Sacred Heart Church at 1324 Jefferson in Midtown.
