MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In addition to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, residents of Alabama’s state veterans homes will have added protection from the virus through a generous gift from the Republic of Korea.

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) welcomed Consul General of the Republic of Korea Young-jun Kim to Montgomery on Friday to accept a gift of 10,000 KF94 masks that will be distributed to the state’s four veterans homes.

“We are so grateful for this donation as the past year has been especially challenging with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said ADVA Commissioner Kent Davis.  We humbly accept this gift that will make a tremendous difference in the lives of our residents and staff at our state veterans homes by providing them with a high level of protection.”

Kim presented Davis with the masks and a letter from Republic of Korea Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun thanking American Korean War veterans and their families for helping Korea defend freedom and secure peace seven decades ago.  Kim said the donation of masks is a small token from South Korea to honor veterans who fought in the Korean War and to remember Alabama veterans who lost their lives in the war.

“Today is just another great example of the wonderful relations the state of Alabama and our department has with the Republic of Korea and we are so thankful for this generous gift to our veterans,” Davis said.

The KF94 masks are made in the Republic of Korea with the KF representing “Korean filter” and the “94” indicating 94 percent filtering efficacy.