Mayor Sylvester Turner accepts donation of $42,000 in medical supplies from Asian American Chamber of Commerce to help with City’s COVID-19 response

The Asian American Chamber of Commerce donated today over $42,000 in medical supplies to the City of Houston following our urgent calls for personal protective equipment. The supplies will be instrumental in the City’s work to blunt the spread of COVID-19 and protect employees who may work directly with groups considered to be high risk.

The chamber of commerce donated the following:

  • 10,000 masks
  • 40 gallons of sanitizers
  • 825 isolation gowns
  • 270 goggles
  • 500 face shields
  • 250 boot covers
  • 3600 gloves


“I want to thank the Asian Chamber of Commerce for their generosity,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Despite some business losses and other challenges faced as a result of COVID-19, they never lost faith and continued to give back to the greater community.”

The supplies will be distributed to the Houston Fire Department, Houston Police Department and the Houston Health Department, as well as other City of Houston employees.

Illy Jaffer, an employee with the Houston Health Department and an Asian American Chamber of Commerce board member, was instrumental in coordinating this donation.


“We as a collective body, including Chinese-American, Korean-American, Vietnamese-American, Japanese-Americans, Filipino-Americans and the various other AAPI ethnicities, and are in support of helping Houston through this challenging crisis and will stand by Mayor Sylvester Turner and the City of Houston in whatever the needs are,” said Bin Yu, Asian Chamber Board Chair. “The City of Houston has been in support of our Chamber since our existence 30 years ago and we have built our campaign in rallying together where we titled it: ‘Together, Houston is Stronger!’

Contributors to the Asian Chamber of Commerce’s donation campaign include:

  • Houston Tsinghua Alumni Association
  • Sino Professionals Association
  • JJ Clemence Volunteer Team
  • Chinese Civic Center
  • Houston Beijing University Alumni Association
  • George H.W. Bush Foundation – China CoronaVirus Action Network
  • Houston Chinese Association
  • Chinese Association of Professional in Science and Technology

If you would like to donate supplies, please email [email protected].