Can you sew? Interested in helping our PPE cause? We are donating material to seamstresses (anyone who can sew) in the Frederick MD area that can help us make masks and isolation gowns. To get in contact, please join our Facebook Group, Sewing for Lives - Frederick MD , or visit our PPE Page on our website. We have sewing patterns for masks/gowns and fabrication patterns for face shields.
If you would like to donate to our cause, please visit our Venmo Link:
https://venmo.com/ShieldCo
The last four digits of the number for Venmo is 2733.
Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has become an unprecedented global event, causing significant disruption in the lives of nearly everyone on earth. With half of humanity now staying home to “flatten the curve”, our frontline healthcare workers are putting themselves at risk every day to protect us against the virus.
We are dealing with a “new normal”. For many of us, including small businesses, we cannot predict how the virus will continue to affect our lives, our families, our businesses, and our communities. Although ShieldCo continues to operate (with numerous safety measures in place), we have many other friends in the community - including the restaurant and beverage industries - that had to shut operations due to public safety concerns.
We might not have control over how the virus affects us, but one major way we can help is by supporting the healthcare workers who are in the front lines against the virus. As you may have heard in the news, medical facilities are struggling with the mass shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) such as masks, face shields, and isolation gowns.
After being approached by our friends in medicine, we decided to help out the best way we could: by mobilizing our team to produce these needed materials, as fast as we could.
We started out by setting up two sewing machines in our shop, and getting the word out to our sales and marketing team (who are working from home) to boot up their sewing machines and spread the word to anyone who wanted to pitch in (big thanks to the family members who have been helping!).
After purchasing fabric, elastic, Plexiglas, marine-grade vinyl and other supplies needed to make large quantities of equipment, we got to work.
(By the way…if you’re a seamstress / someone who can sew and you are interested in materials to make masks/gowns, please visit our Facebook Group, Sewing for Lives - Frederick MD or visit our PPE page. We are donating materials to seamstresses / people who can sew in the Frederick MD area.)
Our friends at the Frederick News-Post caught wind of what we were doing, and wrote a story where we were featured:
Our co-founder, Luke, featured in the article.
Seeing this article, a friend put us in contact with Toni Shindlecker of the Asian American Center of Frederick. Along with a team of around 15 seamstresses, they have been working around the clock to produce THOUSANDS of masks - over 8500!
Our team of helpers have combined efforts with the AACF to create and distribute much needed masks and equipment to our healthcare practitioners throughout Frederick.
As a team, and partnered with AACF, we are motivated to do everything we can to help our healthcare workers fight this virus, even if many of us have to stay at home. Producing PPE is just one way we can give back.
Until the threat of the coronavirus has lifted, we will be working together with our community to provide masks and equipment to the facilities that need it, to keep people healthy and free from sickness.
We feel blessed to be part of such a generous and genuinely caring community - you are the light in the dark!
Thanks so much for reading.
Are you interested in sewing masks/gowns, fabricating face shields, or donating to the cause?
The last four digits of the number for Venmo is 2733.
