Left to right, Bayer employees Brett Sowers, Cory Hemenway and Quinn Waltz; Pima County delivery manager Brandon Milligan; and Bayer employee Joey Cassano load boxes of face shields to distribute to first responders.

Bayer employees at its Marana greenhouse is donating 4,500 face shields to health-care workers and first responders in Pima County.

The first delivery of 2,000 face shields, which help protect from the coronavirus, was delivered to the Pima County Health Department, the company said in a news release.

The donation was being made in collaboration with Tucson-based Triangle Industrial Corp.

Bayer provided the headbands for the masks, which were affixed to face shields that were cut at Triangle Industrial’s fabrication shop.

Graduating seniors at Flowing Wells High School in Tucson cruised through 2020 commencement on May 20, 2020. The ceremony was spread over two nights. Graduates exited their vehicles and walked across the graduation stage while their name was announced, received their diploma, posed for pictures, then return to their vehicles.

Video by Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star 2020

Triangle employee John Brumfield donated his time to run the cutting machine to produce the clear face shields.

Bayer automation engineer Ryan Tellor led efforts to secure materials for the face shields.

The effort to make the shields has been aided by Bayer’s Technical Discovery Center in Chesterfield, Missouri.

“When we saw Pima County was seeking 130,000 face shields to protect staff, we only wanted to donate the equipment, but we also hope our efforts would inspire other local businesses to fill this urgent need by doing the same,” said Matt Lingard, Marana greenhouse lead for Bayer.

The Pima County Health Department put out a call recently for people with 3D printers and automated laser cutters to fabricate face shields.

The face shields will be distributed to the county’s health-care partners, which include hospitals and first responders.


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