Plainfield Among Recipients Of Diageo Hand Sanitizer Donation

PLAINFIELD, IL – First responders and healthcare professionals in and around Plainfield will be among the recipients of 60 gallons of hand sanitizer that was recently donated by Diageo, the world’s largest distillery as part of the company's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Diageo, which operates a large production center locally and manufactures products like Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff, announced in a news release last week that the company is donating up to two million liters of alcohol to help produce more than eight million bottles of hand sanitizer.

Locally, the hand sanitizer has and will be distributed to the Village of Plainfield, the Plainfield Police Department and Plainfield and Oswego fire protection districts, according to a Facebook post on the village’s Facebook Page on Monday.

Plainfield Mayor Mike Collins said Monday night that the donation not only benefits the local agencies that have become the beneficiary of the donation, but ultimately, it helps everyone.

"We don't know where this pandemic is going and how far-reaching it's going to be," Collins said. "So anything like this is just totally appreciated. (Diageo) has been around here a long time..it's great of them to do this."

Diageo announced last week that it would provide alcohol to hand sanitizer manufacturers to help combat the coronavirus pandemic. The company has pledged to donate 500,000 liters of alcohol for hand sanitizer in the United States alone.

Diageo's North American production facility in Plainfield celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017. The facility, according to the company's website, is the the only one of its kind at the company's facilities around the world to house both a technical center, and a full, state-of-the-art production facility. But company officials recognize the need to help first responders around the world.

“Healthcare workers are at the forefront of fighting this pandemic and we are determined to do what we can to help protect them,” said Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive of Diageo said in a release last week. “This is the quickest and most effective way for us to meet the surging demand for hand sanitizer around the world.”