Virginian flying PPE supply to Butler County
A teenage pilot-in-training who has gained national attention for using his time off from school to deliver personal protection equipment to hospitals in Virginia is flying into Butler County this weekend.
Like other students across the county, 16-year-old TJ Kim of Virginia wasn't able to attend school in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike many other students, he is working to obtain a pilot's license and he decided to use his extra time for flight training for community service.
He and his family learned that rural hospitals were having difficulty obtaining PPE, so they came up with Operation SOS, which stands for “Supplies Over Skies.”
His father arranges the donations, which Kim then flies to hospitals.
At 11::45 a.m. Saturday, Kim will touch down at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township with a supply of PPE for the Butler Health System.
Dr. David Rotthinghaus and staff from Butler Memorial Hospital's supply and procurement departments will greet him and take the donations to the hospital.
Businesses and people donate PPE and other items to the hospital, which is well supplied, but the donations are needed due to the uncertainty of the coronavirus, he said.
“We've been very blessed by the support of this community. The support has absolutely incredible. We can't express our gratitude enough,” Rottinghaus said. “But with uncertainty about the number of future cases, we'll take any donation we can get.”
The hospital receives donations of face masks and shields, money and food and refreshments, he said.
“What inspired me is coming down to help support the rural hospitals,” Kim said in an interview posted on the Facebook page of the Riverside Health System in Newport News, Va., following a recent delivery. “They've been kind of forgotten about in this time when everybody wants to go donate to the big city hospitals.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, who is friend's with Kim's family, helped to arrange the delivery and will be at the airport to greet Kim.
