As COVID-19 started ravaging through our communities, Hollingsworth worked hard to find and purchase disposable face masks to help protect our essential employees.
We had some initial success, but so many companies were trying to buy masks from our suppliers and delivery times were delayed. We knew it would be difficult to find a steady and sufficient supply for all of our employees through the duration of the pandemic.
We had to think out of the box to solve our mask problem.
Hollingworth decided to work with seamstresses to create re-usable and washable cloth face masks for our workers. Luckily, Julie May, Hollingsworth’s General Counsel, and her family of seamstresses had the experience and were willing to help out.
The May family Sewing Brigade included Julie’s Mom, aunts, nieces and even a couple of family friends. Even her dad and an uncle ended up pitching in to fold and press the fabric. In total, ten volunteers from Southeast Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Utah participated in this amazing project.
Mahmoud Alabbasi, General Manager of Hollingsworth Distribution Services, and his Procurement team started searching for fabric and supplies needed by the seamstresses. A large supply of Hollingsworth t-shirts with the perfect type of fabric for face masks were located.
We then turned to Matt Ginter, VP of Operations, and his team to complete the next step in the process. Matt’s team was given specs by the seamstresses and started cutting the t-shirts to the right size for face masks to be made. Once the fabrics were cut, Mahmoud and his team sent the “kits” of face mask packages to the seamstresses for them to sew into a finished product. The Seamstresses quickly started to make face masks for the Hollingsworth team.
In just 2 weeks the Sewing Brigade made 1,500 masks with at least 500 more still in the production line. These face masks will be distributed to facilities needing PPE supplies to protect essential employees and our vendors.
We are thankful that our team members and their families are working together to create long-term solutions to mitigate and flatten the curve against the Coronavirus. Thank you for helping our essential employees!
If you’d like to get involved in supporting essential employees, please reach out to our marketing team for more information.