This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.
The Makers to the Rescue documentary project captures the spirit and shares the stories of the open source medical supplies movement. By highlighting the efforts of organizations and individuals’ response to supply critical personal protective equipment (PPE) to first-line defenders in the COVID-19 pandemic we hope to inspire others to take action, to celebrate the work already done and remember we’re all in this together.
As COVID-19 gained a foothold in the U.S., we found our healthcare systems, and society, woefully underprepared to prevent the spread using vital personal protective equipment.
An intrepid network of volunteers and small-business owners mobilized, almost overnight, to pivot their studios, shops and community spaces into a crowd-sourced supply chain to rapidly develop, produce and distribute vital equipment for the Americans on the front lines of this epidemic.
Despite the hardships the pandemic has placed upon their personal lives and livelihoods, the artists, the makers, and the misfits answered the call.
Small businesses abandoned their lucrative primary-business models and joined forces with their competitors to ramp up PPE production. Non-profit makerspaces developed hygienic, volunteer-powered assembly lines. Regular people volunteered their own homes, vehicles, and hands, to manufacture and deliver face shields, masks, head coverings and other PPE.
Their stories will be told in Makers to the Rescue.
And, just as the production of the PPE is being crowdsourced, this documentary is too. Using a variety of self-shot and remotely shot footage, we follow this motley crew’s journey to deliver life-saving supplies to healthcare workers around the country.
Whether you donate to this film or to an open source PPE project, this #GivingTuesdayNow we encourage you to get involved in efforts to support the medical community.
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