T-Shirt Company Donates Thousands Of Cloth Face Masks In Brea

BREA (CBSLA) — The demand for face masks has led to a shortage across the Southland.

Bayside Made In America Apparel & Headwear company, which shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic, used their materials to create masks instead and donated tens of thousands on Saturday.

"We've turned from being a T-shirt manufacturer to, now, a face mask manufacturer," said Abdul Rashid, the owner, who says the company is creating 100,000 masks a day.

The transition was originally a way to keep its employees on the payroll, and help out first responders, but then came the contracts from businesses and FEMA.

"That pays! We're not doing this to make money on the FEMA contract honestly. We break even on it but it keeps our people employed," said Nadir Zulfiqar.

They've hired 100 more employees to work across three shifts.

"Originally when FEMA called, they said they need half a billion masks. Now they're talking in billions," Zulfiqar said.

In all, approximately 30,000 masks were given out Saturday -- about 10,000 more than they initially planned to distribute.

"I had to give back to the community," said employee Shoaid Dadabhoy. "A lot of people can't afford it."

While not medical-grade, these masks are three-layer machine washable 100% cotton, and they meet the requirement several cities have announced for residents to wear face coverings in public or when interacting with essential workers.