York County companies produce and donate hand sanitizer to first responders

Last week, the first bundles of about 1 million packets of hand sanitizer — vital in the fight against the coronavirus — were produced locally and donated to first responders in York and Lancaster counties.

Keeping the virus' swift onset top-of-mind, the project between York County's HR Pharmaceuticals and C-P Flexible Packaging, along with the York County District Attorney's Office, was put together in little more than a week, officials said.

"Our EMS, our firefighters, our police officers are fighting tooth-and-nail, not only just to stay safe and do their jobs but also to do it safely," York County District Attorney David Sunday said. "And so because these wonderful companies have decided to make this contribution, this donation for the cause, they now have more hand sanitizer."

{ The York Daily Record's coverage of coronavirus is being provided for free to our readers. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing at ydr.com/subscribe. } 

Sunday made the announcement in a Facebook video, posted Friday, which also featured representatives of the two companies. 

That same day, the first batches of 3-gram single-use packets were delivered the Wrightsville Fire Company and West Hempfield Police Department in Lancaster.

As of Monday, Strinestown Community Fire Company and the York County Judicial Center had also received hand sanitizer shipments, according to Annette Weaver, HR Pharmaceuticals' marketing manager.

Strinestown Fire Chief Harold "Frosty" Wertz said Tuesday his company had received the shipment and that prior to it, they were "really hurting" for hand sanitizer.

"I think it's awesome ... We did get it and I know they divided it between the stations (there are two in Conewago Township)," he said. "We don't go on a lot of EMS calls, but we still have a lot of contact with people. They put some in all the apparatus and some at the stations."

And this week, packets were scheduled to arrive at York City Fire/Rescue Services and the District Attorney's Office.

Weaver said it was important that the packets were designed for single-use, particularly for first responders.

"That portability, we thought was key for first responders, who are on-the-go," she said. "They're (the packets) single-use, so there's no risk of cross-contamination."

In the video, Colby Wiesman, CEO of HR Pharmaceuticals, highlighted the practicality and portability of the packets, saying that often, hand sanitizer is produced in large bottles or packages.

"As you may know, there is a big shortage of alcohol, so if we're filling into a 32-ounce bottle, it gets into your house, but it doesn't get into everybody else's," he said. "So this is a great opportunity of producing single-use packets where they can be widely distributed."

Ray Clark, director of sales for C-P Flexible Packaging, said in the video, "We're just lucky we were able to help out HR Pharmaceuticals. I just met Colby Monday a week ago, so this whole thing came together very quickly."

Weaver said that in addition to the hand sanitizer that will provided to first responders for free, HR Pharmaceuticals also will produce additional packets which will be made available to the company's medical distribution network. From there, it will make its way to hospitals and medical centers, she said.

Ted Czech is a multi-platform crime/emergency journalist with The York Daily Record. He can be reached at tczech@ydr.com, at 717-771-2033 or on Twitter at @TedCzechYDR