16-year-old pilot flies medical supplies to rural hospitals

https://apnews.com/098d822f7eba7488f7aea67a1bb447a9

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
April 7, 2020


TJ Kim can’t play lacrosse -- COVID-19 took the sport away. And at age 16, he can’t drive alone.

But Kim can fly. And he’s turned his flying lessons into missions of mercy, bringing desperately needed supplies to rural hospitals in need.

Each week, he carries gloves, masks, gowns and other equipment to small hospitals.

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Kim, 16, a sophomore at Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, brainstormed with his family in McLean, Virginia, about ways to keep active, and to serve the community while he had the time. They settled on Operation SOS — Supplies Over Skies.

The most recent flight 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 Winchester to help supply a hospital in nearby Woodstock.

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