Maryland Company Makes Donation Worth 200K Face Shields To Benefit Teachers, School Staff Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday accepted a donation worth 200,000 face shields from a Worcester County-based company that will give one to every teacher and faculty member across Maryland.
The announcement came during an event at Annapolis High School. During that event, Hogan said the state is "at a war with this virus and people are losing their lives."
"This is going to help keep people safe in our school system," he added.
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George Tunis, the president and CEO of Hardwire, LLC., the company that made the donation, said creating the face shields helped them hire more than 160 employees amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"We were able to put 165 people back to work in Pokomoke and quickly get a design based on body armor materials that's reusable," he told WJZ. "All this stuff comes from the body armor world but probably most importantly, it's reusable."
The specialty foam resembling a sponge at the top of the mask is designed to last seven years.
Tunis' next point is crucial to the success of the shield.
"What we don't want to do is use it once, have to throw it away, then have to go chase additional PPE," he said.
Since getting a grant in May, Hardwire has added 130 work cells and added 165 displaced workers while also donating 2 million face shields to New York City.
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