Madera graduate provides 10,000 masks to community
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Representatives from World Financial Group gather with staff members of Madera Rehabilitation & Nursing Center for a photo op after donating 2,000 masks to the facility on Sunday.
For Omair Javaid, a financial professional with World Financial Group, helping the community in terms of personal finances has been a passion.
However, after the Coronavirus made its way into the Central Valley, Javaid stepped into another role.
On Saturday and Sunday, Javaid and Yesenia Gonzalez teamed up to hand out personal protective equipment to dozens of needy retirement homes in the Fresno and Madera areas.
Gonzalez was vital in raising funds, along with Javaid, throughout the process.
Javaid and #WFGCares Team Champions (located on 423 W. Fallbrook Avenue #108, Fresno, Calif., 93711) collected $3,600 and purchased 10,000 masks. World Financial Group is one the premier financial service companies in the Central Valley and in the nation.
The hashtag #WFGCares is a symbol for giving back to the community across the country.
“Our mission and our vision is no family left behind. So, our community is very, very important to us,” Javaid said.
The group met at Madera Rehab on 517 S. A Street on Sunday before making its way to Avalon Healthcare on 1700 Howard Road. They finished up the mask drop off at Cedar Creek on 500 N. Westberry Blvd..
The need for PPE has been a widespread issue due to the lack of supplies and the overall hurdles of having to order them from China.
Javaid and the champions team understood the need and severity of the issue as his father is a doctor in Madera and Javaid himself is on the Foundation Board of Directors at Madera Community hospital.
Javaid developed his plan and partnered with Nurse Angel Network where they combined to raise $3,600 for the purchase of masks from China. It took approximately two weeks for the shipment to arrive.
Nurse Angel Network’s connection in China allowed them to securely buy the masks and bring them back to the United States.
“We identified places both in Madera and Fresno that needed masks. They are care homes and rehabilitation homes We just wanted to find the places that needed assistance,” Javaid said. “Basically, people who don’t have access to large scale donations.
“Madera is such a small town that I realized all of these people I was coming into contact with I knew and went to high school with, and they heard we were donating masks. Everyone has been very helpful and thankful throughout the process.”
Javaid was told by the Madera Community hospital that they had a large storage of PPE, allowing him to focus on small areas around town.
“I had some personal connections that I reached out to and then, by the use of Facebook, I identified a couple facilities that needed masks,” Javaid said. “I was born and bred in Madera, born in Madera Community Hospital, graduated from Madera High. So Madera is very important to me.”
And with uncertainty around COVID-19, the most important thing is to stay ready for the future.
“Other groups are reaching out to us about whether they can get masks and face shields. This is just the start, but we have people motivated to do things in the community and we hope to do something else,” Javaid said. “We would like to do something else down the line, but getting things locally is very hard as we have to deal with everything coming out of China.”
One way or another, Javaid, his team and support system are ready and willing to support the community wherever they are needed.
