Burton Snowboards To Donate 500,000 N95 Respirator Masks

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Burton Snowboards Donates Half A Million N95 Respirator Masks To Frontline Healthcare Workers Across The Northeast

Today Burton Snowboards announces its intent to donate 500,000 N95 Respirator Masks to Covid-19 Responders.

Yesterday we posted about a new initiative called Goggles for Docs. The program encourages users of ski/snowboard/moto goggles to donate their extra goggles to a good cause. That cause is Goggles for Docs.

The intent is to get these spare goggles into the hands of medical professionals fighting Covid-19. There is a severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Ski/Snowboard/Motocross goggles protect the eyes athletes. They are perfect now for use by doctors, nurses and paramedics. 

Leading the charge of this effort is Burton Snowboards, led by co-founder and Chairmen, Donna Carpenter. Burton is not only working to promote and support Goggles for Docs, today they announced another initiative.

Read the press release below for all the details.

 

 

Burton Snowboards Donates Half A Million KN95 Respirator Masks To Frontline Healthcare Workers Across The Northeast

Snowboard Company Mobilized Its Supply Chain to Produce and Distribute Protective Gear

Burlington, VT (April 8, 2020) -Today, Burton Snowboards, the world’s leading snowboard manufacturer, announced that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is donating half a million (500,000) N95 Respirator Masks to healthcare workers on the frontlines across the Northeast. There is an unprecedented PPE supply shortage. And help keep frontline responders safe, Burton quickly mobilized its supply chain to rapidly source and produce the specialized masks in China.

The first 48,000 N95 Respirator Masks have been delivered. They will be distributed to hospitals across the state of Vermont, where Burton is headquartered and to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. Dartmouth is where the late Jake Burton Carpenter spent two months of his life in the ICU battling Miller Fisher Syndrome in 2015. The additional 452,000 N95 Respirator Masks are expected to arrive over the course of the next 10 -14 days. The Vermont State Emergency Operations Center, with oversight and support from the Vermont Governor’s office, will also deliver 50% of the 500,000 total masks to designated hospitals in Boston and New York City where the need is the greatest.

Reacting with Purpose

“It is a national disgrace that the medical supply chain in this country has not been federalized and that states are competing for desperately needed supplies,” said Donna Carpenter, Chair of the Board at Burton. “This fundamental failure of federal leadership in our greatest hour of need will inevitably cause more pain, suffering and loss of precious life. That being said, it’s an honor to be able to quickly mobilize Burton’s supply chain to help the doctors, nurses and other selfless professionals who are saving lives right here in the Northeast.”

Carpenter continued, “My family cherishes the compassionate doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals who saved my husband’s life at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in 2015 and also those who cared for him at the University of Vermont Medical Center where he received cancer treatments and end of life care. Jake and I both grew up just outside of New York City, and to hear the stories about lack of personal protective equipment available to frontline workers in those areas is heartbreaking. I wish we could do more, but I’m glad we could make a bit of a difference right here in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York by donating half a million KN95 masks.”

Supply Chain Boost

Burton enlisted its longest-standing snowboard binding factory partner, Fudakin, to source the critical gear. The equipment will come from China via UPS Express to move the N95 Respirator Masks to the United States.

“This is an incredibly generous donation from Burton Snowboards. On behalf of all Vermonters, I want to thank Donna and the entire company,” said Governor Phil Scott. “Protecting our frontline healthcare workers is the right thing to do. It is critical to our effort to face, fight and defeat this pandemic together. This is a prime example of how Vermonters are rising to the occasion. They are uniting around a common purpose during these unprecedented times.”

Burton has a fierce commitment to doing business as a force for good. No contribution is too small. Burton is constantly looking for new ways to help. In this crisis the world is facing, both as a company and as individuals. With medical masks in short-supply, dozens of employees are sewing fabric face masks from home, preparing for donation. The company has also kicked-off a production effort to make medical face shields for local healthcare workers. The face shields are being manufactured at Burton’s Rapid Prototype Facility in Burlington, VT during the month of April, with a goal of producing 500 per week to be distributed to the University of Vermont Medical Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and Boston Children’s Hospital employees.

Googles for Docs

Additionally, Anon, Burton’s helmet and goggle division, is working with Goggles for Docs to provide snow goggles to medical professionals in need of eye protection. To date, they have donated over 1,300 goggles. The brand has also set up a bin outside of Burton HQ in Burlington, VT. It urges anyone who can to donate their used goggles. These will go through a quarantine process prior to distribution.

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