If you鈥檇 asked Pat Lee two weeks ago if he鈥檇 ever be manufacturing plastic face masks, he would have thought you were crazy.

But things have changed a lot in the last 14 days.

The Chilliwack man who owns three Certified Auto Sound and Security locations is repurposing technology that normally produces car audio and security solutions, using it to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers.

鈥淎t our Maple Ridge location we have machines that allow us to mass-produce the parts and pieces of a plastic face shield,鈥� Lee explains. 鈥淲e鈥檙e assembling those parts and pieces at our Maple Ridge, Abbotsford and Chilliwack stores so we can distribute them to the people who need them.

鈥淟ater today I鈥檒l be dropping off 100 face shields and 200 of the clip pieces for behind the mask at the Abbotsford Hospital.

鈥淎nother 100 went to the Surrey COVID-19 ICU yesterday and we are just trying to get them everywhere we can.鈥�

At a time when many businesses are doing all they can to just ride out the storm, Lee didn鈥檛 want to be sitting on the sideline.

鈥淚t comes down to doing the right thing for our community,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have the equipment and the capability, so why not do this? People who鈥檝e reached out to me tell me they鈥檙e pulling used disposable face shields out of the garbage, sanitizing them and re-using them because they have nothing.鈥�

Lee has not been immune to making tough decisions, including laying off employees.

But he鈥檚 been pleasantly surprised to find people adopting that 鈥榓ll in this together鈥� mentality.

鈥淪taff members that I had to lay off are coming back and volunteering their time to help us do this,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y parents are volunteering their time to put these masks together. It鈥檚 great to see how this crisis has brought out the best in most people.鈥�

Some of Lee鈥檚 vendors have chipped in financially, donating money to help with the rising cost of materials. To date, Lee鈥檚 crew has produced approximately 600 masks, and as word has filtered out, requests have increased dramatically.

Materials are starting to become scarce.

Chilliwack鈥檚 Wellington Plastics is helping source 50 sheets of PETG, a clear thermoplastic that forms the shield part of the face shield.

鈥淭hat鈥檒l allow us to produce another 2,000,鈥� Lee says.

As stressful as it is to find materials and put in the manual-labour hours to produce the masks, Lee wants more organizations to know this option exists.

If that means he has to figure out a way to keep producing more and more and more of them, he鈥檒l find a way.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 care about the press for our business,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e just want the awareness to be out there so we can get as many as possible into the hands of people who need them. If anyone can help with the costs of materials so we can keep producing them, that鈥檚 the whole hope of ours because we just want to keep helping people.鈥�

Connect with Lee online through .

eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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