Sebastopol Hardware + Spirit Works Distillery Help Sanitize Pandemic Hands

This is how Sebastopol does taking care of each other…


Community businesses and individual donors have always been key partners in bringing SDFF to life. In-kind donations, monetary support, media exposure: all are vital to our existence. In recognition of their support, the SDFF team is proud to shine a light on these partners and what they are doing in this time of COVID-19.
When the community ran out of hand sanitizer early on in the pandemic, Spirit Works Distillery and Sebastopol Hardware joined forces to make and distribute it!


Both Spirit Works owner Timo Marshall and Sebastopol Ace Hardware’s Doug Bishop explained the collaboration as exemplary of community spirit and the ways in which local businesses respond to local needs. explained the distillery.


Bishop explained the collaboration: “The effort that Spirit Works Distillery and Sebastopol Hardware Center put into getting the hand sanitizer to market is what small locally owned, community minded business is all about. We are able to change and adapt quickly to meet the needs of our community in ways that large corporations never could. Spirit Works was able to quickly obtain the materials needed to produce the hand sanitizer, and sacrificed time from their regular production to manufacture a product greatly needed by the community. We at Sebastopol Hardware were then able to take the gallons they provided to us and rebottle into nearly 5,000 units, enabling us to donate enough bottles to cover every room or apartment in Sebastopol’s convalescent hospitals and senior housing facilities, and then provide for the general public. This was a necessary service to hopefully keep our community safe and maybe even save lives.”


While the hand sanitizer is now for sale, it began with a huge and much-needed donation. About half the first batch went to the local fire department for distribution, while the rest was sold to Ace wholesale.
“Our community here in Sonoma County is incredibly important to me and Ashby. Once we were able to produce our Sonoma Strong Hand Sanitizer it was a great opportunity to both supply Sebastopol Hardware in bulk -in order to reach our neighbors – while also being able to donate to Sebastopol Police and Fire and the Sebastopol Senior Center. We hope this goes some way to helping our community during this time of crisis,” explained distillery owner Tim Marshall.


For the full story, check out Sonoma West’s piece on this local effort.
We also recommend taking a look at this recent Spirit Works video, produced for Women’s Month 2020.

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