APRIL 23 • 2020 | 35

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I

t was around 2:30 p.m. on 
Sunday, April 12, when the 
wheels of an El Al jet touched 
down at Detroit Metropolitan 
Airport. The plane, void of passen-
gers, flew to Detroit from China on 
what could be considered a human-
itarian aid mission. 
Inside the Israeli jet were 3.5 
million surgical and KN95 protec-
tive masks, face shields and pulse 
oximeters about to be distributed 
to Michigan hospitals, senior liv-
ing facilities, first responders and 
other professionals in desperate 
need of gear to keep safe and avoid 
contracting the potentially deadly 
COVID-19 virus. 
Alon Kaufman texted his wife, 
Shari, a photo of the plane as it 
was about to land. “Welcome to 
Detroit, El Al,
” he wrote in the text. 
“Mission accomplished!! History in 
the making!!”
Just a few weeks earlier, when 

the pandemic began to make its 
unwelcome presence in Michigan, 
the Kaufmans — owners of 
HoMedics, a manufacturer of 
consumer wellness products based 
in Commerce Township — expe-
rienced what Shari described as an 
“aha moment.
”
The couple had as many as 
20,000 protective face masks, which 
they immediately donated to Henry 
Ford Hospital, Karmanos Cancer 
Institute and the Department of 
Homeland Security. 
Seeing the growing need for such 
items, they reconfigured produc-
tion lines at the factories they work 
with in China to mass-produce 
FDA-approved protective face 
masks and other needed medical 
supplies, including pulse oximeters 
and thermometers.
“
At this time, some of our prod-
uct lines are not a necessity for the 
average person who is struggling 

through this crisis,
” Shari Ferber 
Kaufman said. “We recognized this 
early and pivoted our focus to man-
ufacturing masks using our robust 
supply chain in China as well as our 
internal compliance and regulatory 
department. This has allowed us to 
move very quickly to manufacture 
quality FDA-approved masks and 
other PPE.
” 
The team at HoMedics, includ-
ing sons Daniel and Joshua, spent 
several days and sleepless nights 
coordinating how to convert prod-
uct lines to make masks and other 
medically certified personal protec-
tive equipment. Their son Jonathan, 
an L.A.-based film producer, creat-
ed informational videos about the 
endeavor. 
Working with manufacturing 
facilities familiar to the company 
and having a presence in China 
helped HoMedics screen facilities 
to ensure the production of FDA-
approved products. 
“It’
s like the Wild West in China 
right now,
” said Daniel Kaufman, 
senior vice president of strategy 
for HoMedics. “Before COVID, 
around 100 or so factories were 
making PPE. Now there are around 
2,500 claiming to make PPE, many 

Jews in the D

Israeli Airline 
 Brings Precious 
COVID Cargo

HoMedics overhauled its production 
process in China to produce protective 
gear for those on the front lines.
Thanks to El Al, they arrived in Detroit.

COURTESY OF HOMEDICS

HoMedics cargo 
reached Detroit 
with the aid of 
an El Al plane.

continued on page 36