Amish businesses use tools of trade to help fight COVID-19
Supplied by local businesses, Amish women and their families are sewing mass quantities of N-95 mask covers, medical gowns and boot covers. The protective equipment will be shipped to health-care workers in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri and New Jersey.
Businesses in Ohio’s Amish Country are known for sewing and building. Then came COVID-19. Now their infrastructure, resources and Amish work ethic are helping to lessen the health and economic effects of the pandemic.
Together they produce quality emergency gear to fight COVID-19. Supplied by local businesses, Amish women and their families are sewing mass quantities of N-95 mask covers, medical gowns and boot covers. The protective equipment will be shipped to health-care workers in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri and New Jersey.
In a meeting with local business leaders, John Miller, president of SUPERB Industries, realized by working together, Ohio’s Amish community had the infrastructure, resources and volunteers needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is not about us,” Miller said. “This about helping the nation respond to this crisis. It’s just the right thing to do.”
SUPURB Industries is a Class 1 FDA-registered medical device manufacturer. Keim, a hardware and home center, offered its supply of Tyvek house wrap to make emergency gear. Dutchman Hospitality offered its laundering facilities for washable masks. ProVia offered its warehouse and trucking fleet. Stitches USA LLC, Weaver Leather Inc. and Berlin Gardens offered their commercial sewing services. In Ohio’s Amish County there are more than 10,000 qualified seamstresses and an estimated 5,400 Amish households with sewing capability.
“It gives me hope to see everyone work together,” said Laura Troyer, an Amish woman from Walnut Creek.
Troyer sews N-95 mask covers with her 21-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son. They started recently and have made 250 N-95 mask covers. The covers, made of cotton and flannel, extend the life of the N-95 masks. The protective equipment is still awaiting FDA approval.
This effort is a way to engage businesses and employ people in Northeast Ohio who have lost income in relation to the crisis. By partnering together, the businesses can supply income for their collective 5,000 employees. This alone would impact 25.7 percent of Holmes County’s total employment, according to 2017 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“During difficult times Amish families rely on their community rather than government assistance,” Keim President Jim Smucker said. “Many of our co-workers are Amish, and as a community business, we’re committed to caring for our co-workers, even in an economic downturn.”
Additionally donations and volunteers go toward a local COVID-19 relief fund. Those making the medical protective gear can choose to be paid or donate their time. If time is donated, Stitches USA will contribute to the fund on the workers’ behalf. To donate or get involved, call 419-884-6170.
“Difficult times put a squeeze on all of us,” Marcus Wengerd of Carlisle Printing said. “It is these times that reveal the character that we have cultivated in life. I am grateful to be surrounded by a community with strong heart.”