Homedics is a major manufacturer of home health products like massagers, air purifiers and fitness monitors. It was co-founded by Alon Kaufman, who has turned into a major philanthropist in the Detroit area.
Kaufman's wife Shari shared a video showing how Homedics has pivoted to now manufacture personal protective devices that are sorely needed in the US and around the world:
The video indicates that this manufacturing plant is in China.
The question is, how to get millions of masks from China to the US as quickly as possible?
On Sunday, Shari wrote on her Facebook page that the only airline they could find to do the job was El Al:
I just wanted to let my friends know that our first shipment was loaded and left China on El Al airlines last night in order to come to Detroit w millions of masks! They just landed ten minutes ago! I am so moved. So meaningful that it was El Al! Israel, once again, comes to the rescue when every other airline couldn’t commit.Here's a video of the masks being loaded onto the plane (presumably) in China.
Welcome to Detroit El Al!
Mission accomplished!!
History in the making !!
Kaufman also noted in her earlier post:
If anyone is looking for a large quantity of masks, thermometers or pulse ox, please PM me. Please share with those who need. There is so much junk that is being sold as good equipment. Homedics stands behind the quality of our products and everything is FDA approved.So these aren't junky Chinese masks - they are made under contract to a US-based company to stringent standards.
Yasher koach to the Kaufmans and to El Al!
(This story is pieced together based on the two Facebook posts, some research and a little bit of conjecture, but I'm pretty sure I got it right.)