TJ Kim has had all normalcy taken away by Covid-19. At sixteen, he can no longer go to school, no longer see his friends or extended family, can’t play lacrosse, he can’t even drive by himself..but he can fly. And he’s using what he can do to help those in need. TJ has been delivering much needed medical equipment to rural hospitals. Each week he carries masks, gowns, gloves and other equipment to those in need. After his first flight he was taken aback, the welcoming and gratitude he received from doctors, staff and patients was moving. “Every hospital is hurting for supplies, but it’s the rural hospitals that really feel forgotten.”
When schools and extracurriculars started being cancelled, Kim, like most high school students, was left very disheartened and had a lot of extra time on his hands. Kim could have easily got sucked into a video game or into his phone for days on end. But TJ sat down with his family and brainstormed ways he could stay active and serve the community where it was needed most while he had the extra time. They came up with Operation SOS - Supplies Over Skies. TJ says the goal, for now, is to make deliveries to all seven rural critical access hospitals in Virginia.
TJ’s flight instructor, Dave Powell, was blown away when he heard what TJ was wanting to do for others, “For TJ to be more concerned with the needs of others in his melancholy state just reiterated to me how amazing this young man is.”
On his most recent flight TJ carried 3,000 gloves, 1,000 head covers, 500 shoe covers, 50 non-surgical masks, 20 pairs of protective eyewear and 10 concentrated bottles of hand sanitizer to a hospital nearby Woodstock. We recognize you extreme selflessness TJ and not allowing a truly horrific situation to take your will to think of others and to go above and beyond to help others.
