LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported public media network. Hear our news on-air at our partner site:
A couple weeks ago, we told you about how several Southern California distilleries — including Portuguese Bend in Long Beach, AMASS in DTLA and Blinking Owl in Santa Ana — had revamped their operations and were gearing up to make hand sanitizer. Here's an update.
Blinking Owl is producing 2,000 gallons of hand sanitizer per week and starting next week, they'll increase that to 4,000 gallons per week.
The operation has already produced 1,000 16-oz. bottles. Some were donated to restaurants and small medical facilities while others were sold to the general public via the distillery's website. Yes, people snapped them up. The distillery is also producing hand sanitizer in 1-gallon tubs and 55-gallon drums, for industrial use. Blinking Owl co-founder and CFO Robin Christenson tells us the company has been working around the clock to fulfill demand. According to Christenson, several local hospitals, nursing facilities, public agencies and private businesses have already placed orders. They include the cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim and Carson, as well as UC Riverside, the Culver City Police Department, Memorial Hospital Fountain Valley, Amazon, Aldi and local Tesla dealerships.
Christenson says Blinking Owl has also donated some of its hand sanitizer to Cedars Sinai Marina Del Rey, CHOC Hospital, the Salvation Army and multiple small healthcare facilities.
