Bugle Newspapers 4-29-20

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SUBMITTED PHOTO

matt simpson and his kids get ready to donate some of the protective equipment he and his wife, amy have made for area frontline workers. amy simpson is a district 202 teacher of the visually impaired.

district 202

Plainfield families make personal protective gear for those in need When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Amy Simpson, a District 202 teacher of the visually impaired, and her husband Matt Simpson, searched for ways to help the community.

It quickly became apparent there was a high demand for face masks and face shields, so the Simpsons re-

searched ways to use their three, 3D printers to make face shields.

The Simpsons focused on making face shields because they already had most of the materials needed and they last longer than face masks, Matt said.

They researched different versions of face shields before landing on one using rubber bands rather than elastic, which is hard to come by because of the high demand for face shields, Matt Simpson said.

“The use of rubber bands gives you the ability to adjust how the face shield fits your head size and hairstyle,” Matt added. “Our biggest concern was how well the face shields fit because some of the healthcare workers have to wear them for 10 hours, so we wanted them to be comfortable.”

With the spike of demand for face shields, the Simpsons also invested their own money into a fourth 3D printer to increase production.

For the first few weeks, the Simp-

sons covered the costs of materials for the face shields themselves. But as demand grew, they started a GoFundMe page to raise money strictly for materials, Amy said.

As word spread, the Simpsons raised more than $1,500 to buy materials to make face shields and face mask ear guards. After raising enough money to cover materials for the next few weeks, the Simpsons turned off donations while they catch up on production, Amy said.

“We did not expect the outpouring of support that we received from the community when we created the GoFundMe page,” Amy added.

To date, the Simpsons have printed and donated more than 500 face shields and 200 face mask ear guards to frontline workers at 11 hospitals, three fire departments and three companies with workers that face the public, Matt said.

see ‘d. 202’ page 5

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dupage county

k-9 bella retires from sheriff’s office

One of the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office’s longest serving K-9 deputies turned in her badge Friday afternoon for a retirement life of belly rubs and uninterrupted sunbathing in the back yard.

Bella the bloodhound, who has been involved in finding hundreds of missing people and countless suspects over the past 11 and a half years since she joined us from Midwest K-9 Emergency Response

Team in Lee, IL, stopped by the office one last time Friday.

“I’d like to thank Deputy Bella for more than 11 years of service to DuPage County residents and surrounding communities. We always knew when we called Bella we’d get a quick resolution,” Mendrick said.

“I’d also like to thank Ellen Ponall and Midwest K-9 for more than 20 years of providing us with the best dogs and training available.”

Bella’s handler and human partner, Deputy Laura Richardson, said she expects Bella to miss the work and says she may still bring Bella out on training exercises as she continues to train four-month-old bloodhound Hope, who has big paws to fill as she will replace Bella within a few months.

“She’ll miss the work but she’s grown to love just laying out in the sun in the backyard all day,”

Richardson said Friday. “Hope also keeps her busy at home, stealing her ball and keeping her on her toes.”

The Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit also includes bloodhounds Praise, Tilly and Hope; Belgian Malinois Chili, Nitro, Odin and Merit; a black Lab named Raven and chocolate lab Xena. Comfort Dog Julia, a golden retriever, also recently joined the team.

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‘D.202’ from page 2 The Simpsons will continue making face shields and face mask ear guards until there is no longer a need.

SIBLINGS STEP UP John F. Kennedy Middle School seventh grader Rhea Shah and her sister, Roochi Shah, a senior at Plainfield East High School, wanted to make face shields for those serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, even though they don’t have a 3D printer.

The sisters learned about the demand for face shields from their mom, Dr. Kalpana Shah, who is a dentist at Primary Family Dental in Joliet and Plano Family Dental in Plano.

Dr. Kalpana Shah is still treating patients on an emergency basis while the dental offices are closed during the pandemic, Rhea said.

“A couple weeks into the pandemic, my mom didn’t feel comfortable treating patients without the proper [personal protective equipment],” Rhea said.

It became increasingly difficult to find personal protective equipment on the shelves, and available equipment was expensive, Rhea said.

To help keep their mom safe at work, Rhea and Roochi bought supplies to make face shields of their own.

It took a lot of trial and error to assembly a proper face shield, Rhea said. “We didn’t want to send out

face shields that wouldn’t protect the healthcare professionals, so we spent a lot of time learning how to make them functional,” Rhea added.

Once they mastered the process, the siblings set out on a mission to make more to donate to healthcare professionals in the community.

Rhea and Roochi can assemble a face shield in about 15 minutes, Rhea said. They have made nearly 50 face shields using flexible elastic and plastic so far and have donated them to St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet and offices in Michigan.

The Shah sisters plan to make more face shields once they receive more elastic and their newly purchased 3D printer arrives in May.

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