ANN ARBOR – At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan in March, local residents launched Operation Face Shield in response to the shortage of personal protective equipment.
After recruiting a small fleet of volunteers with home 3D printers, materials and know-how, the grassroots group went from making local deliveries by car to air lifts all the way to California and shipping containers by sea to Honduras and Nicaragua.
Recommended Videos
Operation Face Shield organizer Kevin Leeser said the group just surpassed 50,000 donations -- about enough to fill the stands in the old Tigers stadium. He said their shields have reached communities in almost every state.
Leeser, a registered nurse, has experience in natural disaster response in third world countries, which is how he was able to facilitate deliveries to Central America.
Operation Face Shield teamed up with medical relief Global Links to send the PPE to Nicaragua and Honduras.
“The numbers got pretty bad in Nicaragua,” said Leeser. “That was pretty cool to be able to send stuff there."
Another partnership grew with strategic engineering and environmental consultancy Ricardo after a shortage of clear plastic film slowed production. Ricardo mass-produced thousands of films, and combined with the invention of an injection mold at Ferris State University which could churn out six frames a minute, Operation Face Shield went from small at-home effort to large-scale operation.
Leeser said that Operation Face Shield currently has 2,000 shields ready to donate.
To request a donation or to learn more about the effort, visit www.operationfaceshield.org.
✉ Like what you’re reading? Sign up for our email newsletter here!