HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Since early April, the FireStarter FABLab in Houston County has been busy making protective equipment for hospitals and clinics in central Georgia.
Board member Jay Flesher says that includes face shields, tension straps for face masks, and more recently, disposable medical gowns.
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He says with the help of volunteers, they can make about 200 gowns a day, but they need more help to keep up the pace.
Flesher says volunteers can come to the FABLab in small groups to help cut and put together the gowns.
He says there will still be strict social distancing guidelines in place to keep everyone safe. Flesher says anyone can also volunteer to take materials home.
He says they have also started a Gofundme account to help pay for some of the supplies.
After focusing much of their attention on helping hospitals and clinics, Flesher says they have also opened up their production to help small businesses.
Owners and employees can buy face shields, gowns, and tension straps on the FABLab's website.
"If there is a business out there that can't open up because they need PPE, we want to try to fill that gap as well," said Flesher.
He says, thanks to the support they've received so far, FABLab volunteers were also able to make around 1,000 medical gowns for the VA in Atlanta and will be delivering them this week.