(CNN) – A middle school shop teacher from New Jersey is being honored with a special edition Mazda for stepping up during the COVID-19 pandemic to produce thousands of masks for frontline workers.
Jason Erdreich, 26, knows how to work with his hands since he teaches woodworking, manufacturing and robotics at Madison Junior School in Madison, New Jersey. So, when personal protective equipment was in short supply with the coronavirus spreading across the U.S., he felt he could help.
He set up 15 3D printers in his living room, turning it into a makeshift factory, and started printing masks around the clock.
“I mean, I had to,” Erdreich told CNN. “I had the resources to help, I was able to help, I couldn’t not help others that were doing so much to help us. Frontline workers were, and are, doing so much to care for us. Someone needs to make sure they are taken care of, too. I’m glad I was able to contribute to that.”
He also taught others what he knew, and together, they produced more than 12,000 pieces of PPE for hospitals, nursing homes and frontline workers.
Now, Erdreich is one of 50 people Mazda is honoring with an MX-5 Miata 100th Anniversary Special Edition.
“This has been a truly incredible experience. I feel very fortunate, and I am endlessly appreciative to my colleagues, students, administrators, community members and my wife that really helped make all of the PPE in the thick of the pandemic – and even more so for the frontline workers we were making the PPE for,” he said.
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