The Tampa Bay Lightning have pledged to provide 500,000 meals to the Tampa Bay area while Bauer, a hockey equipment company, has switched production to masks to help fight the coronavirus.
On behalf of your Tampa Bay Lightning, a message from your Captain @realstamkos91. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/kZeVGeiLVT
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 25, 2020
“We’re gonna get through this together. We’re gonna do this as a community,” said Steven Stamkos, captain of the Lightning. The other players on the Lightning have come together to help support arena staff that are currently not working because of the suspension of the NHL. In their press release, the Lightning encouraged fans to go online to www.FeedingTampaBay.org to help in the cause. “Anything we can do to help feed Tampa Bay, we’re definitely going to do that,” said Stamkos.
Protection that allows athletes to give everything for their team is our heritage.
Right now, we’re all on the same team. We’re repurposing our facilities to make face shields so that medical professionals battling COVID-19 can safely continue to help those most vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/pBiZuUWdVl
— BAUER Hockey (@BauerHockey) March 25, 2020
Farther north in Quebec, Canada, the hockey equipment company Bauer has switched one of its factories from sports equipment to medical equipment. CEO of Bauer Ed Kinnaly, according to ESPN, said that the company is looking to provide the masks to the United States and is currently filling an order for 100,000 masks across all of Canada. “We can keep some people employed to work on these,” said Kinnaly. Bauer currently has a total of 34 employees working on the products in two different locations.
BUFFALO – NOVEMBER 12: A detailed view of the goalie stick of Chris Mason #50 of the St.Louis Blues during their NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena on November 12, 2008 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
“Frankly I wish we could do more,” Kinnaly said. “Any way we can help, we’re going to try.”