CovCare Launched by Wooter Apparel And GameBreaker Changed The PPE Game During COVID-19

During spring orders flood in from around the globe to design and create customized sublimated sports apparel and uniforms for recreational, youth, college, semi-pro, and professional sports teams and leagues. Wooter Apparel has taken pride in it since growing into a major player within the custom-made sports apparel global market after the company started back in 2014 in Staten Island, New York.

Over the course of the last six years they have also produced unique and colorful apparel collaborations by teaming-up with the likes of boxing legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather, hip-hop icon Master P, and most recently with former NBA vets Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes for their acclaimed “All The Smoke” video podcast on Showtime Sports. Yet all that changed back in early March when Wooter and the world were unexpectedly faced with the daunting task of responding to the Coronavirus pandemic and the realities of having to adjust their personal and business aspirations.

What followed was an immediate pivot by Wooter who went from customizing jerseys, uniforms, and sports gear to dedicating themselves to solving the alarming shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the face of COVID-19. Along with partnering with California-based GameBreaker (who produces protective headgear to help prevent head injuries in contact sports), the two leading sports companies in their industries quickly came together to make a difference with the launch of CovCare, a medical supplies logistics and distribution company.

“I am very proud of our team and how fast they have handled this pivot,” said David Kleyman, who wears dual executive hats as COO and Co-Founder of Wooter and Co-Founder of CovCare.

“Honestly though, the real superheroes in all of this are the frontline healthcare workers like my wife (Sonya Kleyman, a nurse at Mount Sinai Brooklyn) who are putting others before themselves as we continue to fight the spread of the Coronavirus.”

With an extensive selection of medical supplies including NIOSH certified N95 respirator masks, CE certified KN95 and disposable 3-Ply surgical masks, doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, and first responders alike have been benefiting from the efforts of CovCare. The company has provided respirators and masks to Montefiore Medical Center, Mount Sinai, Staten Island University Hospital, the New York State Nurses Association, Houston Methodist, the U.S. Department of Defense, Steward Health Care, Highlands Hospital, and the Fort Lee Police Department (New Jersey) among other hospitals, healthcare centers, and public organizations. CovCare has also committed to donating one disposable facemask to a hospital in need for each 10 facemasks sold.

“These are really difficult times and together with GameBreaker, our sports business was shut down because of the Coronavirus. We saw the struggle governments and hospitals were facing with getting masks and respirators in time and we were able to address these concerns thanks to our supply chain in China,” said CovCare CEO, Alex Aleksandrovski with CovCare successfully shipping over 1.5 million masks by mid-April.

“While building Wooter Apparel, our biggest focus operationally had been expanding our supply chain and logistics network. By replacing apparel with facemasks and PPE to get CovCare, the  formula remained the same to ensure fast delivery, great quality, and factory-direct pricing, with world-class customer service. I am happy that our company has kept all of our employees through this pandemic as well. Many companies (especially sports businesses) had to make tough decisions and let go of their team members. With CovCare we built a company and team that is nimble and can pivot fast to get through the worst of times. Our whole team has stayed on board, all working from home, and have been more efficient. The biggest and most successful companies have been sharpened by these downtimes.”

For GameBreaker Founder Mike Juels, uniting with Wooter Apparel to power CovCare has become a shared goal and vision in the “new normal”.

“GameBreaker and Wooter Apparel coming together was the chance to compliment each other's relationships, supply chains, distribution abilities, software and technological resources in order to do some good in the world,” explained Juels.

“This is bigger than sports right now. This joint venture is about making an impact right here at home. We have remained committed to our employees as a company through this difficult time while pivoting to address the concerns and needs of hospitals and healthcare workers in our own communities.”

Over the past two months, CovCare has worked closely with manufacturers around the clock in China to ensure PPE production meets strict Chinese Customs requirements and arrive in the United States to fulfill orders for healthcare professionals, even if that means delivering medical supplies on their own in New York.

“We rented our own van in Staten Island and delivered 190 boxes with 40,000 masks to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Montefiore was one of the first hospitals to get back to us to share how they were extremely limited with PPE, so we wanted to do our part. It means a lot to see these last couple of weeks of logistics finally pay off to help those in desperate need,” Kleyman added.