Team Wendy is committed to the company mission of improving head protection for those who risk their lives every day. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Team Wendy is stepping up to help those in need by creating cloth masks to be used by those on the front lines in our own backyards.

As a critical supplier to our nation’s military, law enforcement and first responders, Team Wendy remains open. With only essential employees onsite, the rest of the company's work is being done from home.

Included in this team of essential employees are several dozen professional sewers. A normal day for them might be to stitch a chin strap that holds a helmet on the operator’s head. But these days are far from normal for our country. So, members of this team have now transitioned from their typical tasks to sewing cloth masks.

In the last few weeks, Team Wendy worked to source and purchase 1,100 yards of plain weave white cotton, 800 yards of twill weave green cotton, and 93 rolls of a shoelace material—enough fabric to make 10,000 cloth masks using a pattern recommended by University Hospitals. Team Wendy, which is based in Cleveland, says the company will donate these masks to Cleveland-area hospitals in batches on a weekly basis as they are able to complete them.

"We will continue to adhere to the directive of our national, state, and local leaders to play our part in helping stop this pandemic, while continuing to serve the needs of the men and women who are on the front lines of this fight," says Team Wendy CEO Jose Rizo-Patron. "I am so proud of this team. We humbly thank all essential workers across the country and around the world for their efforts."