A local business owner is looking back with pride on a joint effort involving his company to support essential workers at the height of the first COVID-19 wave.

Bob Tetford is the owner of Restwell Mattresses.

Early on in the pandemic, through an initiative facilitated by Taskforce NL, Tetford partnered his company with Browning Harvey to help produce PPE at their mattress production facility in Harbour Grace.

Tetford says they already had many of the materials needed, such as foam and elastic, and then used the plastic from two-litre pop bottles to create face shields.

He believes that over the course of the project they produced about 10,000 face shields.

Tetford says there was one big takeaway for him from the project: “Don’t be too proud to accept help when it’s being offered to you.”

He explains that during such a trying year, it is tempting to try to tough it out but he doesn’t believe anyone can make it through such a situation alone.