Like a COVID-19 era cross between The Lone Ranger and Santa Claus, a masked man is riding around the Upper Valley handing out face masks to essential workers in need.
But Instead of a white steed or red sleigh, the masked stranger pulls up in a black, four-door 2019 Tesla Model 3 with 20,000 face masks stuffed in the back seat and trunk and dispenses them free of charge.
If it strikes you as odd that a one-man operation in the Upper Valley can secure tens of thousands of critically needed face masks when even the U.S. government has struggled to secure supplies, it’s all a question of who you know, the masked man said.
“I leveraged my network I have through sourcing textiles to get the masks,” said Nick Bramlage, a fitness and martial arts instructor who owns Infinity Martial Fitness in Lebanon. “I know how to find the materials.”
In addition to teaching the techniques of Brazilian jiujitsu and Shotokan karate at his Hanover Street studio, Bramlage has a side business importing martial arts uniforms from manufacturers in southeast Asia.
Digging his own bank account plus money raised through a Vermont nonprofit he set up called Infinity Medical Corp., Bramlage said so far he’s imported “60,000 to 70,000” face masks from manufacturers in China, Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea.
In turn, Bramlage has been driving around and donating the face masks to medical facilities such as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, senior living facilities such as Hanover Terrace Health and Rehabilitation Center, restaurants such as Lou’s in Hanover, and the Hanover Co-op markets, as well as dental offices, gas stations and convenience stores.
“I’ve pretty much hit every essential worker in the Upper Valley and now am doubling back,” Bramlage said.
(He’s also donated masks to hospitals in New York, such as Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.)
“He’s brought by three or four boxes so far,” said Martha Ilsley, manager of Hanover Terrace, where masks are used by staff. “We appreciate it greatly.”
Donning a black face mask, black cap and black jacket — I admit I find the outfit a tad creepy — Bramlage posts selfies of himself handing out boxes of masks to recipients.
He estimates he’s spent about $40,000 out of his own pocket in addition to another $25,000 raised through the nonprofit’s website.
“I’ve maxed out two credit cards,” he said.
The vast majority of the masks that he’s imported, about 80%, Bramlage says are the blue-tone ASTM Level-2 medical masks commonly seen in medical offices. The other 20% have been KN95 masks, which are the Chinese version of the high-quality N95 masks that are recommended in professional settings.
In a few cases the intended recipients have turned him away, Bramlage said, either because employees said they are not authorized to receive donated supplies or because they are suspicious of strangers.
“We have had people turn us down, shockingly. We had people at a gas station who refused to wear masks and wouldn’t take the masks,” he said.
Of course, some people just don’t like surprises. Bramlage said he just shows up at a destination to hand out the masks without warning.
“I don’t have time to call ahead,” he explained.
Like a masked bandit.
When there’s a crisis, there’s inevitably a committee to follow. But this committee — er, “task force” — looks to be notable for a stark omission.
Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development has established Economic Mitigation & Recovery Task Force to provide “technical assistance and expertise to mitigate the devastating short-term economic impacts” from the COVID-19 pandemic and to help businesses recover.
“This is a task force, not an advisory committee, and that’s a very important distinction because they will be doing the work of helping Vermont employers across the state,” Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement. “These individuals are willing to roll up their sleeves and lend their vast expertise and skill to increase the capacity of our state response as we take on the significant challenge of restarting our economy in the weeks and months ahead.”
The task force is made up of four action teams: an employer financial and technical support team, a local support and community action team, an executive team, and the RestartVT Team that will help develop plans for an “orderly” reopening of the economy, according to the Agency of Commerce.
The governor boasted that the four teams will be made of “job creators, community leaders and business representatives from each region of the state.”
Well, not every region of Vermont, apparently: None of the 25 members across the four teams are from the heart of the Upper Valley, according to the list of names from the Agency of Commerce (unless Randolph resident and Department of Public Service Commissioner June Tierney is included. No offense, commissioner).
What gives? Norwich has one of the highest concentrations of professionals per capita in Vermont and Hartford’s planning department has deftly balanced development and preservation of White River Junction (albeit not without critics). We would appear to have experts in spades.
As it turns out, the lack of representation was raised with the Vermont governor during his midweek press conference.
“We didn’t pick it as much geographically as we did trying to find people who would want to step up to help in the different categories, different sectors,” Scott said when asked about why only one of the task force members — Oliver Olsen, a former state rep from Londonderry, Vt., in Windham County — hailed from the southern part of the state.
Secretary of Commerce Lindsay Kurrle said also officials wanted to keep the group “very small” and “nimble” and that another candidate from southern Vermont who had been a strong prospect “couldn’t join us for time commitment purposes.”
John Lippman can be reached at jlippman@vnews.com.
