Andrew Tran
Perspectives Editor
As everyone navigates through the coronavirus outbreak and being quarantined at home, there have been some people stepping up to do some good for the community. For one couple, they have created blueprints for 3-D printing plastic surgical masks to constantly supply the medical workers on the frontlines treating those infected with the coronavirus. Isaac Budmen and his wife, Stephanie Keefe, operate a small business called Budmen Industries which designs and sells 3-D custom printers. These two reside in New York, one of the states heavily affected by the coronavirus and they heard about a testing site in Syracuse which was 6 miles from their house. They wanted to help the people at the testing site in which they designed a prototype of a surgical mask via 3-D printing. The prototype took 1 hour to print and took 2 minutes to assemble.
This design and their willingness to help has been shown on various news outlets to inspire people to help with producing the masks. At this moment, the couple have already recruited the assistance of local teachers to produce masks in the classrooms across the school district. Besides the school district, 2000 people have downloaded the design from the Budmen Industries website. As of now, the company has received about 40,000 requests for the masks. This has shown the advancement in technology and how people can make a difference with what they have and what they know. Also, I want to highlight how Budmen Industries has not charged anything for the masks and they are doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.
For us, we should focus on ways that can impact those around us. Even though we do not have 3-D printers, we can still affect others with simple gestures such as texting, calling, video-chatting, walking, or even vlogging. It can be extremely daunting to stay positive at home and to fight against the constant boredom. However, we have to try since there are people trying their hardest to improve the lives of the others. We should do our best too. At a time where we just see bad news, it is refreshing to see someone trying to make a difference in the situation and the community around them.
The Candor 
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