Breadcrumb
Church group鈥檚 heavy Pacific ties help in battle against COVID-19
![Jean Okazaki](/sites/default/files/styles/news_image_img_style/public/2020-09/Jean_Okazaki_0.jpg?itok=WPhidpdt)
The numbers are staggering when you stop to consider them:
- 21 women, many of them affiliated with a Stockton church;
- 14 of those 21 with ties to 糖心vlog;
- 4,200-plus face masks and 235 face shields made鈥攎ost of them going to help health care workers and challenged individuals such as people experiencing homelessness.
This has been a prideful labor of community caring for the contingent from Calvary Presbyterian Church in Stockton and other colleagues.
鈥淚t all started in March when many people were sheltering in place and looking for something to do to help out,鈥 said Karen Nakamura 鈥77, a graduate of Pacific鈥檚 Eberhardt School of Business. 鈥淚t just grew from there. We now have sewers in Lodi and Galt and Sacramento.鈥
Non-sewers are chipping in, too.
鈥淚 cannot sew at all,鈥 said Mary Nakamura (no relation to Karen), a staff member in the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy. 鈥淏ut I can cut fabric so the others can do the sewing. All of us like to be able to contribute.鈥
They go by the moniker the 鈥淪J County DIY Beat Covid-19 Group.鈥
Trisha Fong 鈥14, another Eberhardt School of Business graduate, and her mother Myra Fong take part. So does Sally Tsunekawa 鈥72, a pharmacy school graduate. Others have children or other relatives who attended Pacific.
And then there is Susan Low, whose husband Gary, father-in-law William, children, brothers-in-law and a niece are all Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry graduates or students.
The group started working on N95 face protection. However, after manufacturing started to catch up with need, the members concentrated on cloth face masks.
鈥淲e tried to find places where there was the greatest need for the masks,鈥 Karen Nakamura said. 鈥淣ursing homes, hospitals, cancer units. We also have supplied masks for St. Mary鈥檚 Dining Room and the Stockton Shelter for the Homeless.鈥
San Joaquin County Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park also called asking for a supply of masks for contact tracers, who are essential for supporting patients and tracking the course of the pandemic.
Calvary Presbyterian Church, the French Camp Japanese American Citizens League and the Lodi Rotary Foundation are the group鈥檚 major sponsors.
The group鈥檚 members with Pacific ties:
- Karen Nakamura 鈥77 Business
- Mary Nakamura, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy staff聽
- Marcy Wong, husband Gene 鈥83 Pharmacy
- Myra Fong, daughter Trisha 鈥14 Business
- Trisha Fong 鈥14 Business
- Sally Tsunekawa 鈥72 PharmD
- Ilene Kuwahara 鈥80 Business聽
- Susan Low, husband and three children DDS 鈥76, 鈥12, 鈥14, 鈥19
- Joyce Nakashima, niece Cori 鈥17 PharmD
- Jeannie Sakoda, daughter Cori 鈥17 PharmD
- Jean Okazaki 鈥76 Business, 鈥79 DDS
- Dorothy Matsushino, son Jason 鈥08 DDS
- Jason Matsushino 鈥08 DDS
- Susan Wong, husband Kevin 鈥79 Biology and 鈥82 DDS