Mike Lindell announced that his Minnesota-based company, MyPillow, has started making face masks to be donated to hospitals nationwide.
Masks and respirators have become sacarse since COVID-19 first reached American shores. In addition to citizens buying up masks for their own personal stockpiles, Chinese Americans have have shipped bulk orders of medical masks overseas to their families, according to CNN.
To help ensure that hospitals can get the supplies they need amidst national scarcity, Lindell announced Monday that his company has begun manufacturing masks to supplement a dwindling national supply.
@MyPillowUSA is excited to announce that we are now manufacturing face masks for hospitals across the country! pic.twitter.com/ihBtEl5o4x
— Mike Lindell (@realMikeLindell) March 24, 2020
Lindell is widely regarded as a hometown hero for Minnesota conservatives. A recovered crack addict, Mike started his company with virtually no money to his name, but grew an empire worth $300,000,000.
Since then, he has worked closely with various Republican leaders in his state and was named Chair of President Donald Trump’s campaign for reelection in Minnesota earlier this year.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump for appointing me Chairman of the Minnesota Trump campaign! We will make Minnesota great again! pic.twitter.com/P7m6Y9Up6w
— Mike Lindell (@realMikeLindell) February 29, 2020
MyPillow is not the first Minnesota company to join the fight against COVID-19.
“We’ve ramped up to maximum production levels of N95 respirators and doubled our global output to a rate of more than 1.1 billion per year, or nearly 100 million per month,” 3M CEO Mike Roman announced Sunday.
Medtronic has also taken steps towards “increasing ventilator production worldwide,” and says it has “increased [it’s] production [of ventilators] by more than 40 percent,” as of last week.
Several small companies and charitable individuals have pitched in a helping hand too.
Sew Good, a charity in Monticello MN that crafts and donates fabric products, and Treadle, a sewing supply store in St. Paul MN teamed up with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Allina Health Systems recently to supply volunteers with the materials to sew their own masks from home.
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RELATED: Minnesota Health Providers Seek Volunteers To Sew Reusable Masks
The masks are to be sewn from 100% cotton fabric, and should take a proficient craftsperson about 15 minutes to create. https://t.co/kQCeXjoMHx
— Alpha News MN (@AlphaNewsMN) March 22, 2020
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Minnesotans have also coordinated via Facebook to donate masks to medical staff who work with potentially infected individuals, according to the Star Tribune.
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Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
