Dealer Category - Fillmaster Systems LLC, Columbia, MD
Fillmaster Systems designs, builds, installs and services automated digital water dispensers that reconstitute powdered medications in pharmacies and flavor them. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to close its main office and have employees work from home, two large 3D printers were idled. With the approval of CEO Stu Amos, Fillmaster Technical Director Dan Connor brought the printers and filaments to his home office to use in creating face shields to donate to local hospitals in desperate need of PPE for their staff. Each face shield takes four hours to print, but running the printers constantly from mid-March to the end of May created 400 face shields (1,600 hours work) that were donated to Johns Hopkins Hospital, University of Maryland Medical Center and several other medical facilities in Maryland.
Fillmaster & FlavorX employees also volunteer annually at the "Believe in Tomorrow" house in Baltimore, which offers no-cost overnight accommodations to families of critically ill children that are receiving treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. A team of 10 employees prepared on-site dinner, dessert and lunches for the residents during a 2019 visit, and although COVID restrictions prevented a 2020 visit, they are looking forward to being able to do similar work in 2021.
Manufacturer/Supplier/Retailer category - ELkay Manufacturing, Chicago, IL
Elkay is honored for its extensive community involvement as well as two innovations that have increased the availability of filtered drinking water while decreasing the number of single-use plastic bottles and aluminum cans in use.
Elkay annually donates $25,000 of hands-free bottle fillers and other products to local non-profits and community associations serving underprivileged youth. During the pandemic, the company donated sinks, handwash stations, masks, and acrylic barriers to pop-up hospitals, too. Elkay’s annual giving campaign serves more than 60 major non-profits, and the company provides two full days of paid time-off for employees to volunteer in the community.
The company’s Smartwell Beverage Dispenser, which allows users to mix zero-calorie natural fruit flavors and add natural sweetener and enhancements to still or sparkling water, can save companies 61 to 152 pounds of single-use plastic each month. The ezH2O line of filtered water fountains and bottle filling stations have saved an estimated 26 billion single-use bottles – and studies show that 60% of such bottles would have ended in landfills or the environment.