Police officer organizes donations to help flood-stricken Henan

A police officer from Hongkou District organized a donation of supplies this week for people in Henan Province and their rescuers who were stricken by recent floods.

Boxes of medicine and daily necessities worth about 38,600 yuan (US$6,000) have been collected in the past few days and were sent to Henan on Friday.

Quyang Road Police Station officer Dong Rui, 56, was a medical worker in the army before joining the police force. She said news reports of soldiers and armed police saving people from the Henan floods inspired her to organize the donation.

"I know very well that it's no good for people to be immersed in water for too long, but those young men who were dispatched to rescue the flood-stricken people had to live up to their duty," she said. "My heart wrenched for them."

Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in Wuhan, Dong also rallied a group of 200 Good Samaritans and organized donations. 

Her new initiative received immediate response and Dong was entrusted with using the donated money to buy supplies and medicines because of her experience.

"When I bought eye ointment, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, heatstroke relief drops and gauzes, the drugstore offered a large number of band-aids for free after learning that we were making donations to the flood-stricken region," she said.

With information from authorities in Henan, Dong also purchased over 300 pairs of rain boots as well as portable batteries for electronic devices and solar-powered lights.

A man in Dong's group surnamed Chen, who works in engineering, offered to transport the goods to Henan. Chen said he had a lot of friends in Henan and was eagerly following the situation there.

"Our donation was quite nothing compared with the entire amount of donations from all parts of the country, but we are trying to show solidarity with our fellow compatriots in need," Dong said.

The donations are expected to reach targeted groups of people in Henan later today.