With bars and restaurants not being as busy because of social distancing due to coronavirus, Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery in Swisher is finding a way to put their alcohol to good use.

Workers are using it to make hand sanitizer to give out for free. They want to make enough to fill more than 3,500 bottles of hand sanitizer. They have hundreds of gallons of alcohol to use. Entrepreneur Steve Shriver brought the rest of the ingredients which include, water, xanthan gum, and some essential oils.

Organizers say this is a good example of Iowans coming together.

“Having been through the flood, and the downturn of the economy back in 2008,” said Shriver, “I have grown to have a massive respect for the Cedar Rapids community and how we come together in times of trouble."

People can pick up the free hand sanitizer at Cedar Ridge, or they will have a drive-thru pickup at Newbo City Market starting on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.

"People seemed to drop whatever they were doing today to put together the first batch of these,” said Cedar Ridge owner Jeff Quint. “It’s just fun to see.”