A Maryland teen pilot is using his flying skills to help deliver medical supplies in local rural communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the New York Post, 16-year-old TJ Kim of Bethesda decided to use his love of flying to help hospitals in need of vital medical supplies. Kim and his family came up with Operation SOS-Supplies Over Skies, an organization that provides supplies for healthcare employees who are in the front lines of the pandemic.
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Every week, Kim flies and delivers masks, gloves, and gowns to small hospitals in Luray. During an interview with the Associated Press, the teen pilot-in-training said the small hospitals were the ones everyone forgot about due to the primary focus on hospitals in major cities.
“They kind of conveyed to me that they were really forgotten about. Everyone was wanting to send donations to big city hospitals. Every hospital is hurting for supplies, but it’s the rural hospitals that really feel forgotten.”
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The teen plans to deliver supplies to the seven hospitals in rural Virginia. On his most recent flight, Kim delivered 3,000 gloves, 1,000 headcovers, 500 shoe covers, 50 masks, 20 pairs of protective eyewear and 10 bottles of hand sanitizer to a local hospital in Woodstock.
He also hopes to join the US Naval Academy to further his pilot career.