USL Birmingham Legion FC

Lee Styslinger, Legion FC Owner, Helps Source 20,000 N95 Masks for UAB

Published on May 1, 2020 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Birmingham Legion FC News Release


Legion FC owner Lee Styslinger
Legion FC owner Lee Styslinger
(Birmingham Legion FC)

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Lee Styslinger III, Chairman & CEO of Altec, Inc., and owner of Birmingham Legion FC, helped source 20,000 N95 masks for the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Once it became clear that medical facilities could see a shortage of PPE due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Styslinger leveraged his considerable business connections to secure delivery of 20,000 masks for UAB medical professionals. Working with Marc Benioff, chairman of Salesforce, and others, Mr. Styslinger was able to connect with several different sources in China and finalize a deal to get PPE to our front-line healthcare workers in Birmingham, AL. A little over a week ago, the masks were delivered to UAB Hospital CEO Will Ferniany, UAB President Ray Watts and their team for distribution.

When asked about the process that went in to procuring masks, Stylsinger said, "This was all completed several weeks ago, so it was during the height of the PPE crisis. We started working on this maybe five weeks ago at the beginning of the pandemic, and we were faced with the challenge of communities where we operate throughout the country needing PPE in different cities throughout the U.S., Birmingham being one of them. We also helped out in several other cities. We ran a parallel track with three-to-four different groups running a variety of processes until we would hit a dead end, or a complete challenge. We were four parallel processes at one time - at least, I was - in terms of sourcing approaches and contacts and discussions and meetings, and ended up having one of the four, this one, which ended up prevailing and being successful in meeting the needs that were abundant throughout the different communities."

"It was quite the adventure, but at the end of the day because of the critical nature of what we were doing we felt that we just had to prevail. We kept driving and basically staying close to it, so at one point when we had it secured - because we're paying money up front before we'd even see any of the materials - you'd get a photograph, this is what the shipment box looks like, that meant it had shipped, and then there was this like delay period of 'where is it?' in the transit process once we were sure it had shipped, then there was the whole receiving it and making sure it had been received by the right people at the right location, it was basically shepherding the process from China all the way through the different networks into the different hospitals."

Upon receiving the masks, Styslinger explained that, "It was one of the more uplifting moments I've ever had in my life. There aren't many activities you're involved in your life that are definitively life-or-death, and these were definitely life-or-death implications if we weren't successful. Once we got through that, the ability to do that as a small sign of gratitude for all the heath-care workers are doing throughout our country, it was a small token of appreciation for the incredible and heroic work that all the health-care providers have been performing."

With regards to Legion FC, Styslinger said, "The inspirational lead that the players have provided for kids and fans and supporters is unbelievable and the team and individual players could not have been more forthright. Thanks to the leadership of Coach Soehn and Jay Heaps and the entire team of really getting out there and working to turn adversity into advantage in terms of helping others in such difficult times."

"As much as we want Legion and all sport to come back, the most important thing has been to help get the message out that, 'hey, we're going to be on the field again, but first we've got to take care of business and keep everyone safe.' Fortunately, the team has been very instrumental in making that happen in our community."

Once again, we are grateful to our local ownership group for their continued commitment to our community during this crisis.

Lee Styslinger, thank you for being a special part of the Legion FC family. We sincerely appreciate your support and kindness.

Check out the Birmingham Legion FC Statistics

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Legion FC owner Lee Styslinger
Legion FC owner Lee Styslinger
   



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