Briarwood man giving away free surgical masks

Ryan Li is hoping his small act of generosity can make a difference in his community.

With little to do under government orders of isolation, Li decided to make use of the extra surgical masks lying around his home.

Some encouragement from his wife quickly led to the decision to set up a free bin at the edge of his Beechmont Crescent home in Briarwood for anyone that wants a mask.

“We actually don’t know if the community cares too much about wearing the mask,” Li said, referring to cultural customs in China where people wear masks at any sign of a cough, cold or flu.

“We just said, ‘What can we do to help out if we can do something?'”

Li is originally from China and has kept in touch with friends and family where the spread of COVID-19 forced multiple industries and factories to retool production and manufacturing.

While some are worried about shortages of medical supplies and personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers, Li is in contact with suppliers that are able to ship him more, if he so desires.

“The mask, the ventilators and the forehead (thermometer) — they have lots of supplies there from different factories,” Li said. “They changed form to produce this type of product and that’s how I’m able to get lots of supplies from them.”

Li reached out to City Hall to see what the need in the community was for masks earlier this week when he was confused as a manufacturer.

The bin at the edge of his lawn may run low in the coming days, Li said he has 350 more masks on the way and can arrange for more shipments if the free bin of masks becomes popular or if someone wants to approach him directly to stock up supplies.

“We’re happy to be running out. It means we’re doing good things for society and showing what we can contribute for society,” Li said.

As far as costs? Don’t even think about it. Li won’t accept a dime if a person attempts to pay for a mask.

“I’m just doing the things that we’re happy to do,” he said.