SAN CARLOS, Calif. (KRON) — Justin Levine is back home from college and taking classes remotely from his parents’ house in San Carlos.
Since the 21-year-old junior returned home from the University of Cincinnati, he sees his mom coming and going from her job as a medical assistant at Stanford. She’s working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Jennifer Levine told her son that some hospitals around the Bay Area were experiencing shortages of protective gear for healthcare workers. Justin wanted to help. He’s always been skillful with building things and he already owned a lot of nifty tools.
Justin decided to start making full face shields inside his family’s home garage workshop, utilizing a 3D printer and CNC machine.
The shields are worn as an extra barrier from the highly-infectious coronavirus, which can spread through the air from ill patients to doctors and nurses.
After donating the first batch of shields to a Redwood City hospital, he received photos back from healthcare workers wearing them at work. Justin said that was all he needed to know that his efforts were worth it, and he ramped-up his garage production.
Jennifer told KRON4 that her son’s donations makes her feel “beyond proud. He has a huge heart.”
“He’s always been amazing with creativity. Knowing how stressful it has been for myself and my co-workers … anybody in this field. It is kind of surreal that he is able to help out with something that is needed immediately and makes a huge difference,” she said.
As Justin was busy making shields in the garage, Jennifer went to KRON4.com and nominated him to be part of KRON4 Heroes , a new series highlighting inspiring stories during this difficult time.
