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  • Standing outside location with masks set up.
    Shirin Malik | 11 November 2020 | USA

    Florida Teens Help Minimize the Spread of COVID-19

    Standing outside location with masks set up. The.Ismaili
  • Samara (left) and Aliq (right) standing outside with boxes of masks set up to donate.
    Shirin Malik | 11 November 2020 | USA

    Florida Teens Help Minimize the Spread of COVID-19

    Samara (left) and Aliq (right) standing outside with boxes of masks set up to donate. The.Ismaili
  • Boxes of masks that were donated to Orange County Emergency Management Services.
    Shirin Malik | 11 November 2020 | USA

    Florida Teens Help Minimize the Spread of COVID-19

    Boxes of masks that were donated to Orange County Emergency Management Services. The.Ismaili

How two high school siblings decided to serve the community amid a crisis.

Last March, Samara Jivani (age 16) and Aliq Jivani (age 14) were struggling with the concept of COVID-19 as a threat that may be omnipresent for some time. With family members in healthcare service, they were aware of the lack of protective personal equipment (PPE) for healthcare service providers. Realizing the impact and opportunity of a lifetime, they decided to create a Mask-Up drive.

To serve the community, they placed flyers in local businesses in Collier County to help promote the drive for free masks for healthcare professionals and senior citizens. During the weekdays and weekends they were present at an advertised drive location where individuals were able to receive KN-95 masks during the hours when they did not have to attend online high school classes.

Samara and Aliq have made efforts for residential deliveries to individuals who were most at risk. Till now, they have donated 5,000 facemasks to Orange County, Florida, and 3,000 to Collier County, Florida. The teens were also featured on Wink News. 

County resident Christopher Cush sent an email in which he complimented the work and effort of the two siblings, writing, “I feel good inside knowing that there are young people like you in our community.”

Healthcare recipient Nilofer Gulamali said, “When we were having mask shortages at our hospital, Samara and Aliq donated masks for me and my coworkers. Their donations were a huge blessing for us—quite literally a lifesaver! It was such a kind and caring act of them both to donate masks and think about our community. Samara and Aliq, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Student life has changed during COVID-19, adapting to online learning. Changes in schedules include restrictions on extracurricular sports and volunteer time at Jamatkhana, to now having greater leisure time to explore new activities such as baking, spending time with family, reading, painting, and more. 

During the pandemic, the Jivani teens responded to the community’s needs, illustrating that the youth can make a significant contribution. As an expression of their gratitude, they said, “We love serving the community because it’s one of the best ways to express our gratitude by making a difference. We strive to be able to give back to a community that has provided us with so much.”