WILMINGTON — Locals schools are looking to finish strong, and healthy, thanks to a generous donation.
Clinton County school districts each received a box of 2,280 masks donated from Ohio Ford Dealers via Bill Marine Ford Inc. in Wilmington.
Ohio Ford Dealers were distributing over one million facemasks in neighborhoods and suburbs across Ohio on Tuesday.
The Mask Donation Day is part of Ford’s #FinishStrong initiative – a public call to action encouraging Americans to pull together, protect each other and help save lives in the months ahead until COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available.
David Raizk, general manager of Bill Marine Ford Inc., says they believe in finishing strong.
“Since there’s light at the end of the tunnel, we want to keep it until the end of this pandemic,” said Raizk, adding they were happy to make the donation to local educators.
Ford has been a leader in COVID-19 mitigation efforts since April 2020 and one of the first manufacturers to pivot toward making personal protective equipment (PPE).
The company, in partnership with the UAW, has produced tens of millions of pieces of PPE to meet the strong demand. These include: 70 million face masks; 20 million face shields; 50,000 patient ventilators; more than 32,000 powered air-purifying respirators in collaboration with 3M; and 1.6 million washable isolation gowns.
Ford will hit its goal of producing 120 million medical-grade masks for donation to at-risk communities by mid-2021.
