Pahrump couple donates face masks to area agencies

As personal protection equipment for local first responders are limited amid the COVID-19 virus outbreak, a longtime Pahrump resident and businessman is making an effort to increase supplies throughout the valley.

David Cleveland and his wife Neva, this week donated FDA-approved KN-95 face masks to several area agencies and businesses.

The Clevelands are the founders of E-Cells, which are unique, battery-powered bicycles manufactured in China, as are the KN-95 masks he received.

“We got these masks out of China from our factory there,” David Cleveland said. “They just build our bikes right now. I don’t own the factory. We are donating these masks to Desert View Hospital, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office and the fire department.”

Aside from those agencies receiving the KN-95 masks, Cleveland is also donating 3-ply surgical masks to several area businesses, including Pahrump’s Home Depot.

“We are also taking a couple of hundred masks to the Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation Center,” he said. “They have about 100 employees so they asked for 200 masks. The masks are for agencies and businesses that are still open, because we see that they don’t have masks, so we are getting the employees masks that they need. We still have masks available, and as we find the need we are surely going to provide them to the people who are working out in public.”

Though Cleveland said the initial shipment totaled 1,000 masks, he is hoping to receive additional masks in the not-too-distant future.

“We still have 2,000 masks in China that we want to bring over,” he said. “In China, they’re filling up the planes with masks, but we are low priority right now. We just want to give back to the community. I’m a longtime resident and I have a history here. My wife and I are very much Christian, so we want to help out our community here.”

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes