Beloved Beaumont restaurateur donates 1,000 masks to CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth

  • Moses Ceciliano, far left, and Mike, far right, of Great China Restaurant pose with 1,000 medical masks they donated to a CHRISTUS warehouse in Beaumont on April 13.
    Moses Ceciliano, far left, and Mike, far right, of Great China Restaurant pose with 1,000 medical masks they donated to a CHRISTUS warehouse in Beaumont on April 13.

A beloved Beaumont restaurateur is using his friends from afar to help area medical professionals in the fight against COVID-19.

Owner of Great China Restaurant, Mai Jing Wen, known by many as Mike, donated 1,000 medical masks to CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health Systems April 13, personally delivering them with his restaurant's general manager, Moses Ceciliano. The Beaumont businessman has already donated more than 2,000 masks to two area organizations, and Monday's marked his first to a medical entity.

The men were met by CHRISTUS personnel, whose sheer joy in reaction to the gift couldn't be covered under their masks. The scrubs-clad nurses immediately told Mike and Moses how much they missed their food, something they won't have to do any longer since the restaurant reopened today for take-out orders. It was impossible to tell who was more excited about the donation, between Mike and the recipients.

Great China Restaurant is located at 3135 Calder Ave, across from CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth. Pick up a copy of The Examiner April 16 for the full story.