WHO: JIM SALINSKY, 56, REAL ESTATE PROPERTY OWNER AND MANAGER
I had bought a Glowforge, a large desktop printer with a laser than can cut wood and plastic. When the whole COVID thing hit, I knew I wanted to do something to help. I read on various community forums a few weeks ago that there was a critical need for face shields. Somebody had made a simple design for a visor-mounted acrylic plastic frame for face shields over which you would put ordinary plastic transparency film. You punch the plastic with a three-hole punch and snap it in.
I tweaked the design a little bit and made some prototypes. Finding plastic material wasn’t difficult — I got five different kinds from places like Office Depot and Amazon. I gave one to a doctor friend at Froedtert and a nurse friend at St. Mary’s Ozaukee. They both said the plastic needed to be more rigid. The shields also needed to be able to be cleaned with antiseptic wipes, because they would be reused. So I found a different type of material that worked well. And because the shields can be uncomfortable to wear all day long, I added some padding — weather stripping glued to the front.
I sent a few to my nurse friend, who immediately asked for more. Because it’s time-consuming to make the shields, I decided to enlist the help of neighbors. I live in the 3500 block of Frederick in Shorewood — a very friendly block. The “mayor” of the block, who has everyone’s email, sent out the message that I could use help.
Within minutes, people were raising their virtual hands and saying they would help out. In all, 13 families were involved. I would drop off — so nobody would get infected — a packet with the cut materials and instructions for assembly, and people would turn them around in a day. We sent 120 to St. Mary’s Ozaukee, 20 to Ascension in Shorewood and 50 to Froedtert. Since then, their supply chains have come back. But our shields were a good temporary fix.
Then we learned that healthcare workers’ ears got sore because of the pressure of wearing a mask all day long. The Glowforge company devised a pattern for an “ear saver,” a clip that goes behind the head so masks can be clipped on it instead of having elastic behind the ears. These were easy to whip out. We sent batches of 50 or 60 to St. Mary’s Ozaukee and Ascension.
The whole project was really fun. It was something my neighbors could do in their homes and feel like they were doing some good. I think we all feel a little helpless. We are also appreciative of health care workers, so it was our way of saying thank you and pitching in.
– As told to Carolyn Kott Washburne
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