Iconic Sail Makers, Brewery Make Face Masks For Hospital Heroes

GREENPORT, NY — Two iconic North Fork businesses teamed up to help front line health care workers fighting the new coronavirus in Greenport.

On Wednesday, Richard Vandenburgh, co-founder of Greenport Harbor Brewing Company and president of the Village of Greenport Business Improvement District delivered 500 face shields to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital.

Vandenburgh and the brewery’s co-founder John Leigey have teamed up with Jamie, Bob, and William Mills of William J. Mills & Co. Sailmakers to develop and produce face shields for local hospitals, first responders, and community outreach volunteers.

Owners of both businesses, brewery staff, and volunteers assembled approximately 700 shields in their first three hour shift on Wednesday afternoon. The goal is to assemble 1,400 shields daily, as long as they have enough volunteers.

The initiative was born, Vandenburgh said, when he asked himself: “What can we do locally to help?” a thought echoed by many North Fork business owners and community members who immediately came forward to make the vision a reality.

“Then we bumped into Jamie Mills and Bobby Mills and found out they were well on their way to creating a [face shield] prototype, so it was a perfect kind of union,” he said. William J. Mills & Co. had the ability to "crank out" all the pieces in their shop, with the space in the brewery available to assemble the masks, he added.

In collaboration with Mark Miller, former owner of Miller Environmental and Bob Gammon, co-owner of Woodside Orchards in Jamesport and co-lead advisor for the Southold/Greenport robotics team, the businesses started a GoFundMe page.

“We raised $28,000 in three days,” Vandenburgh said. “We’ve raised what we anticipated we would need to fund approximately 5,000 units; any excess funds will be turned over to the hospital to purchase equipment, beds, or whatever is needed.”

There is a longtime tie between the businesses and the hospital: Vandenburgh’s mother-in-law was a nurse at the hospital for many years; Mrs. Vandenburgh is a “Sterling baby,” meaning she was born at SBELIH while the hospital still housed a maternity ward, he said.

Vandenburgh and Leigey donate beer to the Foundation’s Annual Summer Gala and William J. Mills & Co. supports the ELIH Foundation Gala and Annual Golf Classic. Bob, Jamie, and William Mills were the Foundation’s 2012 Golf Classic Honorees.

“With each new call to action in response to the COVID-19 crisis, our community has answered,” Paul J. Connor, chief administrative officer at SBELIH, said. “We are so grateful to the Brewery, the Mills family, Mr. Miller, Mr. Gammon, the volunteers, and the donors who have all contributed to this extraordinary display of teamwork and philanthropy.

To volunteering, email rich@greenportbrew.com or call (631) 513-9019.

For more information on how to help SBELIH and the Eastern Long Island Hospital Foundation in the fight against COVID-19, call (631) 477-5164 or email elih_donations@stonybrookmedicine.edu.