The HIVE is all about community production to meet community needs, so in early March when we heard about nationwide shortages of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, we immediately started prototyping and reaching out to potential collaborators with 3D fabrication capabilities. After a flurry of design iterations, we settled into a groove making and delivering face shields in partnership with Studio 7, Franklin County Tech School, Turners Falls High School, and Northfield Mount Hermon. Our collaboration has continued to grow and we are meeting the need for PPE for healthcare centers around Franklin County and into surrounding communities like Amherst and Springfield. Now that our production capacity is up and demand in the medical fields is beginning to plateau, we’ve begun to supply essential workers from other industries as well.
Together, we’ve delivered over 800 shields!
Read more about the collaboration in the Greenfield Recorder, or support our work directly with a monetary contribution. Note that all donations are processed by our 501c3 fiscal sponsor, The Progress Partnership.
Interested in learning more about the ways that community production can increase local resilience? Check out this article profiling the good work of Wellspring Cooperatives in Springfield, MA.
