U of T alumni secure PPE donation from China for Oakville hospital
Two U of T alumni used their contacts in China and leveraged an existing sister city relationship to bring much-needed supplies to front-line healthcare workers in Oakville.
Wolfgang Van Rosan (BA 1999), who mentors students at U of T Mississauga, and his wife Sarah (MBA 2019), had 12,000 masks delivered to the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital from Huai’an, China earlier this month.
The donation came, in large part, due to the sister city relationship between Oakville and Huai’an that the couple was instrumental in forging years ago.
Van Rosan, who has ties to all three of U of T’s campuses, moved to China with his wife in 2006. The plan was to stay there for a year, but they remained for six years. Van Rosan helped foreign companies establish a presence in mainland China. He and Sarah decided to return to Canada in 2012 after the birth of their first child.
After relocating to Oakville, the couple used their connections in China to formalize a sister city relationship between Oakville and Huai’an. The two cities exchanged pleasantries, with delegations travelling to the other city.
“It was positive,” Van Rosan says of the delegations, adding “nothing major happened.”
When the pandemic hit, Van Rosan was struck by how much demand there was for personal protective equipment (PPE). He heard that Oakville, like many others, didn’t have enough equipment.
“I was quite surprised how much demand there was,” he says.
He started thinking about who could help or provide product at a reasonable price. While talking about the issue, he and Sarah remembered Oakville’s sister city. Van Rosan reached out to the City of Oakville to determine what equipment was needed and was told they could use any available PPE.
Sarah, who was born in China and speaks Mandarin fluently, spoke to the office of the mayor in Huai’an. Oakville’s sister city offered to donate 12,000 masks.
“We were really appreciative,” says Van Rosan, noting Huai’an managed the shipping logistics. “They were able to get it here quite quickly.”
The masks were delivered to Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, who in turn presented them to the hospital.
A graduate of U of T Scarborough and volunteer at U of T Mississauga, Van Rosan is currently completing his MBA at Rotman School of Management. He reached out to Tim Gu, a friend he met through the MBA program. Gu has a factory in Markham that has been reconfigured to make masks, he explains.
Gu donated 1,000 masks to Oakville, Van Rosan says.
He notes that there is a wealth of people he’s met over the years who have adapted and stepped up to contribute. “It’s admirable.”
He adds that there was always a warmth between Oakville and Huai’an waiting to be tapped.
“I am so happy that is there,” Van Rosan says. “Maybe in the future Oakville can help.”