SURPRISE, AZ — "As long as we have the resources, anyone who asks for them, we're just going to send them out," said Ryley Youngs, an 11th grader at Imagine Prep.
She saw on Facebook the need for ear savers--hooks used by people wearing PPE on a daily basis.
"You can only really make them with a 3D printer, so we put out an ask on Facebook. It just so happened my honor society advisor had one at home," Youngs said.
Youngs then sent a pattern to Gia Lowell, her honor society advisor. After four hours of trial and error, Lowell has gotten to the point she is able to print six ear savers every two hours from her home in Surprise.
"I think we have a really good product now that's strong but pliable", she said. In two days, Lowell printed about 70 ear savers using supplies she bought herself.
Once printed, Youngs packaged and donated the hooks to Banner hospitals around the Valley. She says while they need more supplies to print more hooks, they also need help reaching those who need the hooks.
"It's hard to reach people that might need them through our small Facebook posts so just finding people that really need them and sending them our way would be really helpful," Youngs said.
