Ford has been producing personal protective equipment since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring and most recently pledged to donate 100 million face masks to at-risk communities by the end of the year. Additionally, the automaker produced 15,000 custom face masks that were donated to attendees of today’s presidential inauguration, too.
The custom face masks worn by those at the presidential inauguration feature the official logos of the 59th inauguration and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which plans and carries out presidential inaugurations. The logos were printed by a women-owned commercial printing company called Hatteras, which is based in Michigan.
“As a storied American company that employs more autoworkers than any other manufacturer, it’s a huge honor for Ford to support a tradition so fundamental to our democracy,” Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company, said in a statement. “We’ve been a leader in COVID mitigation efforts since April, and donating these masks only furthers our commitment to keep families and communities safe as we gather for this important moment in history.”
The company, in partnership with the UAW, has produced tens of millions of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to meet strong demand, including 20 million face shields, 50,000 patient ventilators, over 32,000 powered air-purifying respirators in collaboration with 3M, and 1.4 million washable isolation gowns. These efforts, part of Ford’s Project Apollo, were documented in a recent film by director Peter Berg dubbed “On the Line.”
In collaboration with the UAW and Ford Motor Company Fund, Ford has donated more than 50 million face masks to nonprofit organizations, state and local officials, first responders, schools, and underserved communities in all 50 states so far.
We’ll have more on Ford’s efforts to fight COVID-19 and produce PPE soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford-related COVID-19 news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
Wait a minute….There was a Presidential inauguration today? Did Obama get re-elected? I don’t watch the news much so please forgive me.
What a generous act of kindness. However I believe if they have enough of our hard earned tax dollars to fund gender studies in Pakistan they should have sufficient money to purchase their own face masks.