Coca-Cola Fills the Gap in Making PPE Face Shields by Margie Foster
On March 31st, we realized that our PPE effort was about to get a little more complicated. The supply of of clear PETG sheets, the plastic used to make face shields, was running out nation-wide and suppliers were being told not to expect a restock until late May at the earliest. Our volunteers were combing the internet and calling every lead across the country, and every response was always the same — nothing available. The next day, an article came out that Coca-Cola was stepping up to fill the need. The company committed to sourcing and donating 100,000 pounds of plastic sheeting to makers for the production of face shields. This was great news, but how do we get on that list as a recipient? After spending many hours lost in Coca-Cola phone trees, it turns out the answer was Twitter! Wendy Doernberg, the genius who’s been running social media for our PPE efforts, reached out and made contact with MakeIt Labs, the first and largest Page 6 | June Newsletter | Nova Labs
makerspace in New Hampshire, and the team coordinating between Coca-Cola and makers across the country. This was just the beginning; it would be another month and a half before we received our donation from Coca-Cola. As it turned out, logistics and coordinating shipping for these donations became a full time job for the makers in New Hampshire. They set up their own non-profit organization called Makers Respond to help establish a supply chain and get resources to maker networks. Just short of three weeks after our first contact, we received an unexpected email that Coca-Cola was donating more rolls and we were at the top of the list! The tricky part would be shipping; we Nova Labs | June Newsletter | Page 7 could either pay for delivery or coordinate multiple deliveries along the way to justify Coca-Cola providing shipping for free. Jeanne Marshall rose
