Coca-Cola to Help Georgia Tech Make Surgical Masks for Healthcare Workers

The beverage maker and university team up to fight against COVID-19.

Sometimes a crisis brings out the best in us, and in Atlanta, Georgia, two institutions are working together to help healthcare professionals who need protective gear. 

Uniting to battle COVID-19

Georgia Tech engineers have been creating plastic surgical shields and other protective equipment using 3-D printers, and they've called on anyone who has one at home to join in their efforts. To help the cause, Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) helped contribute and transport 6,000 pounds of plastic sheeting material to make the shields. 

Students and faculty alike have connected in the effort to produce 50,000 plastic shields. The protective gear will be sent to hospitals across Atlanta where healthcare workers are in need of more personal protective equipment, known as PPE.

Georgia now has over 4,100 coronavirus cases and like all over the U.S., doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are working diligently to treat them. Hospitals have said they're low on supplies and are calling on the public for help. Many individuals have dropped off supplies, and Sherwin-Williams donated 6,000 full-body coveralls.

Helping out all over the U.S.

Coke has responded in other states, too. It connected with one of its packaging partners in the Boston area to donate and deliver plastic sheeting to create masks there as well.

The beverage maker is also producing hand sanitizer at its Iowa plant for donation to the University of Iowa healthcare system. It's hosting a drop-off location for supplies for PPE at that location and rewarding donors with free bottles of its new AHA sparkling water.

Although people are still in the market for a cold can of Coke, the company's share price has fallen along with the rest of the stock market in recent weeks.

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Article Source: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/04/01/coca-cola-to-help-georgia-tech-make-surgical-masks.aspx