Ernie Ball Donates More Than 55,000 Face Masks

Guitar String Manufacturer Ernie Ball Donates Face Masks to Local Residents, Charities

COACHELLA — Ernie Ball, the world’s leading manufacturer of premium guitar strings, bass strings, and guitar accessories has made more than music to help the community cope with the ongoing struggle of the pandemic. They have donated more than 55,000 facemasks to local Coachella Valley residents, charities, and organizations.

Back in April 2020, when Riverside County first mandated that everyone wear facial protection, the guitar accessories plant, located in Coachella, transformed a portion of its manufacturing facility to produce two-ply, 100% cotton facemasks to help meet the community’s increased needs. They created an online portal for Coachella Valley residents to request masks to be delivered free of charge, and discovered there was an overwhelming need.

“The Coachella Valley is our home and we wanted to help the community in any way possible,” Brian Ball, CEO of Ernie Ball, said in a prepared statement. “Throughout the pandemic, our primary goal has been to establish a safe, controlled working environment for our team members and employees. When the mandate for masks was announced, our team came together and decided we had a unique opportunity to support not just our employees, but all residents of our Valley by distributing masks to all free of charge. I really couldn’t be more proud.”

To date, more than 21,800 adult masks and over 5,000 children’s masks have been hand-made and delivered to those who requested via a dedicated webpage. Plus Ernie Ball has had the privilege of making and distributing another 29,700 masks to employees, charities, and entities such as Martha’s Kitchen, Coachella Valley Rescue Mission, Act for MS, FIND Food Bank, Local Fireman Chapter, Tiny Tots, John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Indio Police Department, Path of Life Rehab, Riverside County Office of Education, Youth Intervention Program, Dr. Wayne Kleinmann, Indio Justice Center – Victims Advocate, Child Protection Service – Indio Office, and City of Coachella employees and outreach programs, to name a few.

Additionally masks have been provided to local residents, various daycare centers, nursing homes, and migrant farm workers for places such as Sun Date, Cal-Organic Farms, CV Farmer-Labor, Tudor Ranch, Prime Time Produce, Belk Farms, Oasis Branch Management, Desert Mist Farms, Hadley Dates, Sardella Contracting, Esparza Enterprises, Jewel Date Company, Richard Bagdasarian, and Anthony Vineyards, among others.

According to Ball, the company is not accepting any additional new orders, but will continue to produce masks on backorder over the next few months.

About Ernie Ball
In 1962, veteran player and teacher Ernie Ball created Slinkys®, the iconic light gauge electric guitar strings widely revered by hundreds of guitar greats including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Brad Paisley, Slash, John Petrucci, The Edge and John Mayer. In addition to industry-standard strings, as well as hand-crafted high-end Music Man® guitars and basses, Ernie Ball Inc. offers state-of-the-art instrument accessories that are carried in more than 6,000 stores in the U.S. and 120 countries worldwide. The family-run company maintains its founder’s dedication to preserving the musician’s playing experience and delivering superior sound quality through the development of new products, such as Cobalt Slinkys, M-Steel, Earthwood and the revolutionary Element Shield Packaging, which hermetically seals guitar strings to keep each set as fresh as the day they were made. The company also fosters artist development through musician-focused programs such as the world’s largest and longest running Battle of the Bands, where unsigned bands compete each year for the chance to play live on national tours, festivals and events. Visit them online at ernieball.com and music-man.com