EDMONTON -- When Londondale Pharmacy owner Mohamed Elsayed couldn’t source hand sanitizer, he decided to take matters into his owns hands.
He eventually followed a link provided by World Health Organization, and after receiving permission from the Alberta Colleges of Pharmacy, he began producing a homemade sanitizer.
"Friday, when I started making the batch I was expecting I would have more but I ran out of ingredients," said Elsayed. “I made about 400-500 bottles. I’ll probably have some more coming up end of this week and I’ll still distribute it for free."
Elsayed says the response has been "overwhelming" since posting a message on the Kilkenny Community League’s Facebook page.
"I’ve had lineups of 10 and 12 (people) but we’re trying to again stay safe and social distance everyone and try to not keep a lot of people inside the dispensary."
He adds that he’ll continue to make and distribute the sanitizer as long as he has access to the ingredients needed to produce it.
"This pharmacy has been here for around 30 years and I've been the manager and owner for about eight years," said Elsayed, "This community has been so good to me so it's time to pay back a little.""
Londondale Pharmacy joins the list other small businesses who have stepped up during the sanitizer shortage. Last week, a handful of local distilleries also came forward.
