GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2020 - 19

GreaterReading.org

Adelle Schade, "The dedication and American ingenuity of
this group of volunteers brings hope, inspiration and pride
to Berks County."

I received the call to
service through an
email shared by the
school district where
we volunteer. Great
networking. Great
opportunity to help our
community. "It takes a
village." - Jim Hong

student population in Berks with real-world learning and creating
solutions to the PPE crisis. Very quickly, it was realized that with
the demand so high - this project would need to move quickly
from idea to implementation, pulling in a larger network of makers
and entrepreneurs. I can already tell this is going to be an amazing
public-private collaboration that will support our community's most
emerging needs.
March 25 - The ad-hoc committee of community stakeholders has
gotten to work - reaching out to our networks, sourcing materials,
finding a prototype, creating a FB group and Slack Channel for
interaction amongst one another, and engaging the maker community
for ideas and feedback. Communication is so key here, and this
group is rocking it.
End of Week One, March 27 - We've already recruited a ton of
volunteer makers - some students, some professionals with a 3D
printing hobby, and others with time and talent to give in other
areas. The Reber Family is even volunteering to create a website
for us, along with social media pages. Things are moving so fast!
(berkspperesourcenet.org)
Organizations involved in the initial brainstorm: Albright
Science Research Institute, Alvernia University, Berks Alliance,
Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Berks County Medical Society,
CrossTrainer Mixed Reality, Greater Reading Chamber Alliance
(GRCA), GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Hamburg Area School
District, Penn State Berks/LaunchBox.
Week Two, March 30 - Momentum is building, and each day
brings news updates, challenges and opportunities to work on this
critical issue together. This week we have partnered up with Berks
County Community Foundation (BCCF) to create a fund for the
Berks PPE Resource Network through the Albright Science Research
Institute, so that we may remain sustainable throughout the next
month and beyond, as needed. Our costs so far include supplies and
additional 3D printers and equipment for our network to be able
to continue to print quickly. We plan to hand out materials free of
charge to those that need them most, but this will require a ton of
filament, transparency sheets and other supplies like rubber bands
and printed instructions.
March 31 - We made the news! Kris Jackson, CrossTrainer Mixed
Reality, and Adelle Schade, Albright Science Research Institute, were
featured on WFMZ for their efforts to mobilize as many 3D printers
as possible to make protective masks in partnership with the Berks
PPE Resource Network. The word is out!

Dave Kline, one of our
maker all-stars, stopping by
for a resupply of 6 rolls of
PLA. Keep rocking, Dave!

Kris Jackson, "The Berks PPE Resource Network is a
prime example of how communities, individuals, schools
and universities, and businesses organizations can come
together to tackle any problem. It was perhaps the best
thing I've ever been involved in in my entire life, and I'm
looking forward to our next challenge."

Tom Newmaster stocking up
for a busy weekend!

Cody Tridento, another rockstar,
picking up his resupply!

I knew nothing about 3D printing
and at age 46, had to get help from 17year-old Cole C. just to get going! The
April 1 - Volunteers are packing up face shields in bags of fifteen,
product count that I have seen from
and we'll be handing these packs out as soon as Friday (tomorrow!)
the build completion tracking is just
Hundreds of requests are trickling in. We've also been keeping track
astounding. What you all are doing is
of all volunteer support, and face shield requests through a Google
simply amazing. I first heard about this
Forms procedure - processes are key!
from Dr. Shawn Gravish at Hamburg
Area School District. He works with
Additionally, Adelle with the Albright Science Research Institute
Chris Spohn. I then checked into it to
has been in contact with the FDA to secure compliance for our face
receive PPE for my police department,
shields. The request has been approved under the temporarily relaxed
standards of the FDA to increase availability in communities. This and then eventually joined as a printing member. - Chief William
McElroy (Pictured is Officer Jordan Heckman, Tilden PD)
is a major win!
Continued on next page
19

http://www.GreaterReading.org http://www.berkspperesourcenet.org

GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2020