PDI Employee Makes a Difference – One Mask at a Time!
Our associates are not only dedicated to infection prevention in the office, but they show that same dedication within their communities. Harris Enotiades, PDI’s Senior Manufacturing Engineer, along with his family, are working hard help keep family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recently spoke with Harris and heard first-hand how one person and one family can make a difference in people’s lives by the simple act of making masks. We are proud that Harris is part of the PDI family!
About Harris’ Mask Campaign
What inspired you and your family to make masks? Making masks came naturally to us as way to protect ourselves during this challenging time. I was going to work every day, and my mother-in-law is in a socially vulnerable group. And, masks, like the N95 ones, were just not broadly available.
At first, we started making masks for just family, close friends, and neighbors. Then word got out and people started asking for masks for people at work and others who didn’t have access to them. We took on this opportunity to help while having extra time at home and kept going by the positive vibes and love we received.
Mask making became a fun activity at our house and we each took part in a small production line. We made two different versions — one with a pocket for a filer and one just a cover – all of our masks were 100% cotton, and made to last. The one with just a cover could help hold the standard N95 ones in place.
We then came across a Facebook group called “Mask Relievers,” who provided us with names of people in need of masks. I also gave them to my team at work and to colleagues who wanted them for parents or siblings. It took some time to become acceptable on the plant floor, but they are now a unit of protection.
Between the Mask Relievers group, friends, and friends of friends, we mailed masks throughout New York, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee and California. So far, we have made nearly 300 masks.
About Harris and PDI
When did you join PDI? I joined PDI in December 2018. I was recruited for the project “Optimize” to enhance our manufacturing operation practices and maximize savings. The Optimize goals were accomplished in 2019 and are now established as PDI’s Operational Excellence practices. It was a great first project because I had the opportunity to work with a lot of colleagues across the company in a short period of time.
What do you like most about working for PDI? PDI’s business ethics and principles align with my family’s and my own personal beliefs, to help people with our deeds. This is what my parents have taught me, and I want to continue to uphold this service to fellow human beings. The challenges our society is going through right now inspire the work we do.
What ways do you help promote team collaboration and connectivity in your role at PDI? Within the Operation’s team, we have a companionable environment and mutual respect for each other which makes it a friendly place. This makes collaboration a second nature, as it is easy to talk and interact with people on the floor and across the team.
What motivates or inspires you every day in your work at PDI and in your life outside of work? Helping our communities, learning, and advancing technical skills while being challenged, and having a joyful time with friends and family.
(Top Image: Top left: Harris’s mother-in-law making masks. Top Right: Harris’s wife packaging the masks for shipment. Bottom: Mask Relievers)
(Bottom Image: Top left: Harris & his wife; Top Right: Harris & his daughter; bottom center, Harris with a remote controlled airplane)