BELLEFONTE — When Waverly Huang, a junior at State College Area High School, read that nearly 90 percent of residents at Centre Crest in Bellefonte had COVID-19, she knew she had to do something.
“At first, I felt like I didn’t have much power because I’m a teenager. I can’t drive. I don’t have a credit card,” she said. “But I started researching and saw other teenagers raising funds through sites like GoFundMe.”
Huang talked with her friends and five more jumped at the opportunity to help. Tiffany Chen, a State High sophomore; Caleb Du, a State High freshman; Qingqing Zhao, a senior at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh; Anker Zhao a Shady Side Junior; and Kevin Lin a junior from the Washington D.C. area.
Together, they raised $5,640 on GoFundMe for the staff at Centre Crest.
“We’re so excited to give back,” Huang said. “Our hope is that the staff and residents at Centre Crest know they’re appreciated.”
Three students from State College High School present 260 gift cards to Centre Crest at State College High School on Dec. 22, 2020. Pictured from left is Alissa Janoski, Centre Crest Business Development Specialist; Andrew Naugle, Centre Crest Administrator; Tiffany Chen, sophomore; Waverly Huang, a junior; and Caleb Du, freshman. Photo provided
Maureen Casey could not agree more. As a State College resident who grew up in Bellefonte, she was also upset when she heard about what Centre Crest was going through.
“These workers put their lives at risk every day to care for our most vulnerable patients,” she said. “We want to show them that their efforts are not going by unnoticed.”
In addition to raising more than $4,355 online, Casey worked with Masked Strong-Centre County — a local group organized on Facebook —to assemble gift bags for each of Centre Crest’s 260 employees comprising of local products from Weis Markets, Still Not A Hippie, Nature’s Reward, Uptown Cheapskate, Pizza Mia, Dunkin Donuts and more.
“I used to go Christmas caroling to Centre Crest as a kid,” Casey said. “It just breaks my heart that they are suffering.”
Local churches are also helping aid Centre Crest. St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bellefonte delivered sandwiches, cookies and drinks twice on Friday.
“Once the news came out about Centre Crest, I immediately had two parishioners ask me what we were going to do,” Father Carlos de la Torre said.
For years, the church offered its pastoral care and led a monthly worship service at Centre Crest. And parishioners and their family members have worked or currently work at the nursing facility.
“We are comforted by the outpouring of support from the community,” Centre Crest Administrator Andrew Naugle said. “Thank you to everyone who has offered support. Every bit helps.”
Naugle said the facility is currently 90 percent recovered from the outbreak and will start vaccinating the staff and residents beginning on Jan. 4.
Community members wishing to help can contact Alissa Janoski at (814) 355-6777 ext. 4025.
