Work looks a little different this spring for Sailcrafters owner Tim Carlson inside his St. Louis Park shop.
In what would be considered normal circumstances, Tim and his employees would be busy with business from yacht clubs and other sailors across the state who are eager to get out on the water.
Instead, Tim and a group of passionate workers have found another calling during the COVID-19 pandemic... Creating plastic face shields for congregate care facilities in need.
"I talked with Hugo Searle with the St. Louis Park Fire Department, who I've worked with on a few different projects," Carlson said. "He's a sailor, too. One of the things we thought could help during this time is plastic face shields."
From there, the idea was born. Carlson secured a $20,000 grant from John Graves and the Minneapolis-based Graves Foundation. Along with other donations, Carlson knew they could get and use materials they were familiar with.
"We're familiar with using the film on the shield and knew we could get it cut," he said. "The shields get cut by a gentleman named Dave Simpson who's been working with Cedar Box Company. They cut roughly 1,000 shields per day."
Foam for the shields comes from American Converters Inc. in Fridley. From there, enough pieces for 50 shields get put into boxes that a group of about 50 volunteers have been taking and putting together.
Carlson said he left the distribution end to Searle, who is the assistant chief of training and EMS for the St. Louis Park Fire Department.
Searle, who oversees the community health management program in St. Louis Park, found that there were immediate needs for face shields with the help of St. Louis Park community healthcare coordinator Amy Lucht.
"As soon as Coronavirus started, Amy started working with all of our senior living facilities to help them pivot to be safer with staffing and personal protective equipment," Searle said. "We were able to identify who needed face shields and it was everybody."
So far, Searle says the St. Louis Park Fire Department has distributed nearly 4,000 of Carlson's face shields. The need for face shields even reached beyond St. Louis Park.
"Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina, and Golden Valley fire departments all took some for distribution," Searle said. "Shields were also distributed in Eagan and cities throughout the southwest metro."
Weekly deliveries from Sailcrafters to congregate care facilities became the norm for Searle and he says St. Louis Park congregate care facilities. "It really made an impactful difference in the PPE the staff have been able to have. So far, so good, for St. Louis Park and our congregate care."
It's unclear how much longer Carlson and his volunteers will continue to build the face shields. Carlson said he spoke with the state last week and was told that the need for face shields is dwindling. Along with low demand, Carlson says the costs associated with making the masks might force them to end the project soon.
"By the time we keep the lights on, it's about $4 to $5 a shield. We're not making it huge and we're not here to make money. We just need to cover our costs," he said.
To help keep up with the costs, Carlson as set-up a page for donations, which can be found here.
The plastic face shields have gone to over 100 different locations, 70 of which are fire and police departments, or elderly care facilities.
