Last Thursday, Mad River Distillers staff distributed 15 gallons of homemade hand sanitizer to people at two different sites in Waitsfield.
This Friday, March 27, they will do it again. According to Mimi Buttenheim, company president, this week’s distribution will take place at the Mad River Taste Place at 1 p.m. People need to bring their own small jars and will be able to help themselves to 6 ounces.
Buttenheim asked people to respect the allotted per person amount so that more people could access it.
Buttenheim explained that the sanitizer is made from high-proof alcohol and has hydrogen peroxide and glycerin added to it. To create the high-proof alcohol, she and her coworkers take regular rum and redistill it to create a much higher proof, 160 proof, or 80 percent alcohol.
That redistillation process takes two days.
“Once you do that, the other stuff is fast,” she said.
The Warren-based distiller had had some small bottles which they filled and distributed. Last Thursday’s distribution and this Friday’s are for refills. Mad River Distillers provided a gallon of sanitizer for Mehuron’s as well as a large jar for residents of Evergreen Place and the senior center.
Last week she and coworkers, wearing rubber gloves, refilled jars for the 30-plus who waited in line, 6 feet apart, under gray skies in the very empty parking lot of Mad River Green Shops.
This week, the free hand sanitizer will be do-it-yourself, or self-serve, Buttenheim said. She will be on hand but in the company’s van at a safe distance.
Buttenheim and company founder John Egan followed the example of other distillers in the state in learning to create and distribute hand sanitizer to folks in need during the COVID-19 epidemic.
According to Egan, once Mad River Distillers realized they could utilize their existing setup to produce a high enough proof to use as a sanitizer, they consulted the WHO formula and began creating their blend.
People lined up outside Mad River Taste Place last Thursday to get the free hand sanitizer made by Mad River Distillers.This week the company will again distribute the free hand sanitizer at Mad River Taste
