Santa Clara Rotary Donates $10,000 TO MANUFACTURE Face Shields

NEWS RELEASE

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Marguerite Padovani

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. –APRIL 6, 2020 – The Rotary Club of Santa Clara (www.scrotary.org) has embarked on a concerted plan to help reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus by partnering with Maker Nexus, a Sunnyvale based non-profit organization.

Maker Nexus has created a community of 3D printer owners that produce re-usable face shields, a critical component of the “personal protective equipment” (PPE) that is in extreme short supply in the fight against COVID-19. Santa Clara Rotary is committed to helping Maker Nexus increase its community of producers, source supplies and solicit donations. To kick-off this partnership, the Rotary Club and it’s Foundation presented Maker Nexus with checks totaling $10,000 on Friday, April 3, 2020.

As of the date of this press release, Maker Nexus and its community of 3D printer owners have the capacity to manufacture approximately 1000 face shields per day. Face shields are used by health care professionals and first responders to protect themselves when providing care to virus infected patients. With the Corona Virus pandemic ravaging every country in the world, the supplies of face masks, face shields and ventilators (PPE) are at critically low levels. Maker Nexus has designed a face shield that meets acceptable medical specifications. To ensure that the production of these shields meet the design specifications, Maker Nexus has set up laser cutters and 3D printers to manufacture these shields to accepted medical specifications.

Maker Nexus has recently shipped these shields to:

San Francisco General Hospital

Kaiser South Francisco,

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital

Kaiser Santa Clara

Regional Medical Center of San Jose,

Mills Peninsula Emergency Medical Associates

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

“This ‘Maker’ community is a collection of already connected people who have a wide range of talent, skills and expertise, “said Kelly Yamanishi, a member of both the Rotary Club of Santa Clara and Maker Nexus. “This community was ready to be tapped into in an unexpected way,” she added.

“We are pleased to collaborate as medical professionals are in critical path with COVID-19 and fear of spread is the biggest challenge,” Jim Schremp, Vice President of Maker Nexus board.

“Major parts of the shields are made on 3D printers. We have several at Maker Nexus that will be running as long as we have supplies. We also have over 300 volunteers in the community using their own 3D printers at home and bringing the parts to Maker Nexus. Members of Maker Nexus are mostly individuals, hobbyists, and Makers doing 3D printing at home. Maker Nexus adds additional parts and ships them out to hospitals,” he added.

“Without being called upon or even asked, Maker Nexus, Rotarians, Entrepreneurs, Businesses and neighbors alike step up to lead, help solve problems and continue to make our world a better place, said Colleen Noll, President, Rotary Club of Santa Clara.

ABOUT THE ROTARY CLUB OF SANTA CLARA

The Rotary Club of Santa Clara is a member of Rotary District 5170 and was chartered in 1936. They are a part of over 1.2 million people world-wide that share in the vision of Rotary Internationals goals that include eradicating polio. The Club is made up of over 70 men and women who either work or live in the City of Santa Clara. To learn more about the club, visit www.scrotary.org

ABOUT MAKER NEXUS

Maker Nexus is a registered California non- profit corporation with a 501(c)3 status. They strive to be a transparent organization, sharing everything from their financial plans and position, to their makerspace plans. They believe their members should know where their money goes and should have a say in how their monthly membership dues are being used.

Their mission is to unleash the innate innovation in people that can make their lives better, improve the community, and can even change the world. To learn more about Maker Nexus, please visit their website at www.makernexus.com