The pandemic year of 2020 launched Rebel Converting and its partners into a massive volunteer project to make millions of free face masks at a time when supplies were desperately short. The company also stepped up to help feed homeless individuals and families whose lives had been devastated by the virus. This was a massive volunteer effort by a diverse coalition of progressive businesses and grassroots organizations. Nothing like it had been seen since the war effort of the early 1940s. We had been caught unprepared as a nation, thrown into the worst public health crisis since the 1918 “Spanish Flu” pandemic.

It became clear early on that COVID-19 was different than anything ever encountered before by humankind — not just because of its lethality. COVID-19 spread like wildfire. As desperately ill patients filled the hospitals to capacity and beyond, caregivers lacked appropriate PPE. ICUs and ERs lacked appropriate PPE. First responders lacked appropriate PPE. Firefighters and police officers lacked appropriate PPE. On and on.

What happened next was a minor miracle

All around the country people came together as volunteers to solve the problem. In Washington State, Providence health network launched the 100 Million Masks Challenge. Efforts to make and distribute free face coverings sprang up everywhere. Rebel joined the movement when the company realized that it could make effective face masks from the same raw material from which it manufactures disinfectant wipes.

“And from there the whole thing just snowballed,” Rebel President Mike Kryshak said. “The situation looked so bleak – the entire country locked down – and yet we didn’t give up. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”

Rebel committed to make 4 million free mask kits. Volunteers from all over the region came forward to hand-assemble finished masks. To promote the project, a grassroots advocacy group called MaskUp MKE arose. The Medical College of Wisconsin and United Way of Greater Milwaukee took up the cause. Also getting on board as mainstay partners were Just One More Ministry, Ignite Change, Allen Edmonds, North Shore Bank, Habitat for Humanity, Milwaukee County Transit, The Bucks and Fiserv Center. Plus many more.

The effort is credited with saving countless lives at a time when vaccines were but a distant dream. And, it led to formation of the Kryshak family’s new charitable venture, Rebel Reform.

This past March, United Way gave its Gwen T. Jackson Community Service Award to the entire Kryshak family for their service in the time of the pandemic. Loretta Kryshak said, “We love Wisconsin and sincerely appreciate this award. We have a lot more work to do for our community, however, more than just fighting COVID. Rebel Reform also has a broad mission to fight hunger and homelessness and bring attention to the organizations that we feel make a real impact on the lives of those in need.”