The 100-year-old outdoor gear manufacturer will provide 15,000 masks for medical professionals battling the coronavirus pandemic.
As hospitals scramble to address overcrowding and supply shortages, major manufacturing companies like Ford and Tesla have stepped up to provide essentials in high demand — like ventilators.
And today, the outdoor community joined the fight in a big way, with Eddie Bauer announcing it will pivot some of its production to create N95 and surgical masks.
These masks are critical to helping doctors and nurses on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, and runaway demand has left medical professionals in short supply.
“With our production capabilities and supply-chain resources, Eddie Bauer is working with our vendors to shift apparel production to make the masks our healthcare workers so urgently need,” Eddie Bauer President Damien Huang said in a statement.
“Our neighbors here in Washington state and the greater Seattle area have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19.”
The Washington-based brand said the first batch of 5,000 masks will arrive at its distribution center by the end of this week. And by early April, the brand said another 10,000 will be ready.
Eddie Bauer confirmed it will coordinate distribution through the Department of Enterprise Services to ensure masks make it to the counties and facilities with the greatest need.
Currently, Washington has the fourth-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, behind New York, California, and New Jersey.
