New Britain High School transformed into an assembly line for volunteers to make face shields for health care workers and other first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a press briefing with Hartford HealthCare Tuesday, the CEO of OKAY Industries spoke about the efforts to create more than 20,000 face shields in a matter of weeks.
Officials hope to provide Hartford HealthCare with 14,000 of those shields, and the remainder will be given to first responders in Berlin, New Britain and Southington.
"We came across an outline of how to make face shields, which is one of the most sought after items for PPE, and then took a look at our expertise – how we could actually make it and then engaged two community partners,” said Jason Howey, CEO of OKAY Industries.
Howey said he worked with the New Britain School District for the space and gathering volunteers for assembly.
According to Hartford HealthCare, Community Foundation of Greater New Britain and Hartford Foundation for Public Giving donated $50,000.
“Just a really true community effort of people donating their talent and expertise,” said Howey.
