ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Every week Orange County government distributes hundreds of PPE kits at testing sites across the county.
What You Need To Know
- Cesar Londono-Jaimes has given out more than 12,000 PPE kits
- The 20 year old is studying for a mechanical engineering degree
- Discover more Everyday Hero stories here
In order to do that, it takes a lot of people and hours and one college student chose to volunteer above and beyond to become an Everyday Hero.
If you ever took coronavirus test in Orange County, you probably received a PPE kit and chances were they were made and handed to you by 20-year-old Cesar Londono-Jaimes.
“I don’t have a lot of experience working with a lot of people but seeing that people appreciated what I was doing it became a lot easier and fun,” he said.
Londono-Jaimes saw that his Aunt Danielle Sullivan, who works for the county’s health department, needed help to make and distribute PPE kits at testing sites.
“He was like can you please check if I can help in any extent,” said Sullivan, the health services administrator. “That real desire to help without expecting anything.”
Londono-Jaimes explained why he decided to put together the test kits.
“I think it’s because of the quarantine," he said. "Instead of being home watching TV and doing nothing, I would rather go out and help other people."
“I hope every leader gets a chance to work with volunteers like Cesar,” his aunt said.
Volunteering is something Londono-Jaimes grew up doing in Venezuela.
“My parents taught me we need to help each other,” he said.
Since March, he has made and distributed more than 12,000 PPE kits and volunteered more than 400 hours, all while he continued his studies in pursuit of mechanical engineering degree at Valencia College.
He says his dream to use his medical engineering degree to design prosthetic devices for people in need.
“I’m extremely proud. I have my proud mama moment’s days when I’m like, ‘Yes that’s my kid,” Sullivan said about her nephew.