From left, Aaron Blum, David Revis, Kevin J. Dillon and John Shegerian present a donation of N95 masks to Community Regional Medical Center. Photo by Frank Lopez

ERI, a leading e-waste recycler based in Fresno with locations all over the country, donated roughly 300 N95 respirator masks to Community Regional Medical Center in Downtown Fresno Thursday.

“There could be no greater honor than to make this donation to Community hospital, the No. 1 hospital in the entire Central Valley, which serves all its people, way beyond Fresno,” Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of ERI John Shegerian said. “If these masks can protect the lives of over 300 people and potentially save some of these health care workers from becoming afflicted with COVID-19, then we’ve reached our goal.”

Shegerian said the idea for the donation came from an employee who has been with ERI for nearly 12 years. The company hopes to set an example with this donation to encourage other businesses to donate needed supplies to local health care providers.

David Revis, ERI director of environmental, health, safety and security, brought the idea to co-founders Kevin J. Dillon and Aaron Blum.

Revis said that he found the masks just sitting in a closet as excess inventory at one of the company’s locations. The company stocks up on the N95 masks for its employees who handle electronic waste.

Revis and Shegerian reached out to CRMC to set up the donation, which they said was met with excitement from the hospital staff.

A list will be published to inform the public on what the hospital needs. For more information visit the Community website or call 559-459-4040.

According to Revis, a box of N95 masks costs anywhere from $20-$25 dollars, but during the ongoing health crisis, he is seeing prices online going up to $50 for a box, or even $20 for an individual mask.

Revis said that many of the vendors ERI works with are running out of stock, but encourages local businesses to donate to community medical centers.

“Call your local hospitals and physicians and see what kind of personal protective equipment they need,” Revis said. “From gowns, to face shields, to N95 respirators — I’ve already reached out to some of our other sites across the U.S. and asked them to donate any N95 respirators in their local communities.”