MARIETTA, Ga. — While many high school students may be spending their time out of school playing video games and scrolling through social media, several others are trying to save lives.
Meet Kyle, Stephen, Megan and Colin, the brains behind 3DPPE, a company they created last Friday.
After hearing about the need for personal protective equipment for medical professionals, the students used their unique skills, and 3D printers, to get to work.
“We found a solution that allows us to put a protective shield in front of the entire face that prevents those masks from being soiled quite as easily,” said Stephen Leverone, a sophomore at Wheeler High.
Stephen and Kyle Hampton are the engineers. They each use 3D printers, and instructions found online to create the masks. They’re then donated to medical professionals.
Megan Lawson, a junior at Wheeler, is the Co-President of HOSA, Healthcare Occupation Students of America. Prior to this, she had never met any of the other members of the group.She was brought along to find medical professionals who need the equipment.
“A lot of these things are on short supply, so they’re very eager to accept things like this,” Lawson said.
So far, the group has donated hundreds of masks to groups like WellStar Kennestone Hospital and the Morehouse School of Medicine.
They plan to keep making and donating the masks until they’re no longer needed.
“We don’t really know when this is going to end. So, we just print them as long as there’s a need,” Hampton said.
“The doctors are out there fighting for us, so you have to help them out,” said Colin Lasure, who handles marketing for the group.
The students have created a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy more printers.
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