Boat shops use lots of masks and gloves while sanding, fiberglassing and finishing boats, but two Maryland-based boat shops donated thousands of both items to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pasadena Boat Works, a dealer of Carolina Skiffs and other powerboats, donated 14,000 N95 respirator masks to the Maryland Department of Health.
Weaver Boat Works, a custom fishing boat builder, saw the story about Pasadena Boat Works and donated its own supply of 7,000 N95 masks—usually worn by boat shop employees—to Anne Arundel County, which sent them to first responders.
Pasadena Boat Works owner Rick Levin had the masks because of his prior involvement in a foundation that created fun-patterned ventilator masks for child cancer patients. Weaver Boat Work employees decided they could use reusable masks instead of the disposable N95 masks and also gave up 1,050 boxes of nitrile gloves, typically used for applying epoxy.
Weaver Boat Works owner Jim Weaver says he could have sold the masks through the family’s Deale Hardware & Home Store, but his family and employees decided to part with them for the greater good.
Weaver’s daughter Ashley Hangliter, a manager at Weaver Boat Works, calls it a civic duty to help first responders. “There is no point in life more vulnerable than when you need to call upon first responders. If there is anything we can do, to help those who stand in harm’s way, it is the least we can do to put community before profit.”
You can read more about it in this article from Chesapeake Bay Magazine.
