Delivering Good Spirits, Local Distillery Producing Hand Sanitizer For Health Care Workers
EL DORADO HILLS (CBS13) — The world needs more hand sanitizer, far more than the industry can produce right now.
So, an El Dorado Hills distillery is now stepping up to help fill that critical need.
The owner of Dry Diggings Distillery, Cris Steller, says if this is what puts him out of business, he'll be okay with it. He says it's an easy way to help during this crisis, getting hand sanitizer directly to the people on the frontlines of this killer virus.
"Everything we use is at 190 proof or 95% alcohol," Steller said. "We've made a strategic pivot from making alcohol for our bottles and making the hand sanitizers and sanitizing sprays."
Dry Diggings Distillery is now using its alcohol supply and other raw materials to churn out hand sanitizer and disinfecting sprays that will be donated to first responders and health care workers in Amador, El Dorado and Sacramento Counties.
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"I'd rather go down doing the right thing because the bottom line is I think every small business is going to be on the brink of going out of business. But not everybody is able to use the inventory they have. And the capital they have to do something proactive," Steller said.
And while making the shift in recipes was relatively simple, the process has come with its fair share of challenges. They've gone from making 50 gallons a day, to more than 300.
"It's been an interesting change trying to figure out how to meet just a massive demand," head distiller Casey Newman said.
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A local company delivering good spirits in a whole new way.
"I'd rather go do down doing that than wondering what I could've done," Steller said.
The need is so great, Cris says the company has turned to donations to keep up with production. 100% of the donations go directly toward making the hand sanitizer. The distillery takes care of the labor, and everything else.
If you'd like to help, you can get more information on their Facebook page.