Spirit Hound Distillers of Lyons has been working with outside organizations to produce and package hand sanitizer to produce and sell the product to in need communities due to the precautions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Boulder, is asking distilleries from around the United States to follow Spirit Hound Distillers’ example to use their resources to create hand sanitizers for community members.

“The rise in consumer demand for hand sanitizer has led to a shortage of this critical product,” Neguse said in a statement. He noted that several distilleries around the country have helped to fill the void by “transitioning their traditional operations into a production line of alcohol-based hand sanitizer.”

Many distilleries around Colorado, such as J&L Distilling Company of Boulder, are transitioning to using their alcohol to produce hand sanitizer. Spirit Hound Distillers has produced over 48 gallons of hand sanitizer, using a recipe from the World Health Organization, and immediately donated almost all of it.

“People are getting a vitally important product to help protect them in this crisis,” said Craig Englehorn, Head Distiller at Spirit Hound Distillers. “What we’re trying to do is get the sanitizer to first responders, folks in the medical field, and home healthcare nurses; mostly for the people who do not have sanitizer who are going from patient to patient. We’re trying to get it in the

hands of people more at risk and people who really need it.”

Organizations like the Spirit Hound Distillers hope to continue to use their platform to combat the circumstances that the Coronavirus has placed us in even though they do not know what their future holds amid this pandemic.

Christiana Lucani, a registered nurse, is working with several distilleries to distribute hand sanitizer to people in need.

“Access to hand sanitizer is critical. It helps stop the transmission of the virus,” Lucani said. “I originally had a friend whose dad was sick with leukemia, and she couldn’t find any hand sanitizer. He essentially doesn’t have an immune system due to his condition. I called some organizations to find out what needs people have and what the availability was like, and the need

is great. Healthcare organizations can’t get any.”

Spirit Hound Distillers hopes to remain open through this crisis to help people without any access to hand sanitizer.

“We’re going to stay open from noon to seven, every day for both hand sanitizers and bottle sales, until we are ordered to not do that,” said Englehorn. “Because of our role as sanitizer production, we will probably be considered as an essential business. I’m not sure what the future entails, but we intend to stay open.”

Spirit Hound Distillers is receiving sanitizer requests from around the state of Colorado, but believes that more distilleries will adopt the responsibility to make more sanitizer for other communities in need.

“It makes me proud that other distilleries are stepping up and trying to make hand sanitizer for the community,” said Englehorn. “If we combat this problem together, we can make progress.”

Lucani believes that if distilleries were given more freedom with their income flow, they could continue to provide help to those in need.

“I’m really hoping that these distillers can get a way to avoid having to pay taxes on the alcohol they are using to create hand sanitizer,” Lucani said. “They can centralize so that I can personally get the hand sanitizer going to the health care providers and the most vulnerable patients.”