‘We have 27 truckloads’: Hillsdale business desperate to unload pallets of hand sanitizer

‘It’s far exceeded my fire suppression system, we need to get rid of it’

HILLSDALE, Mich. – A warehouse in Hillsdale is filled with hundreds of thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer and disinfectant cleaner. The most remarkable thing about the situation is that they’re looking to give it away for free.

The 98,000-square-foot warehouse belongs to Drew Homovec, who ran a manufacturing business in Detroit.

“Inside the factory, we have 27 truckloads,” said Homovec. “A truckload is 24-26 pallets.”

Outside the factory, Homovec has three truckloads more, and It came from a charitable organization needing warehouse space between Detroit and Chicago.

“It started off in discussion with 200 boxes, rolled into two truckloads, and then it became two truckloads a day,” Homovec said.

The charity defaulted on its warehousing contract, leaving Homovec scrambling, considering a quarter of a million gallons of liquid which is enough to fill nearly half an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It is between 70% and 80% alcohol.

“It’s far exceeded my fire suppression system and everything else, so we need to get rid of it,” Homovec said. “I’m authorized to find a home for it and technically give it away.”

Most troublesome to the fire department is the three truckloads outside the building. They need to disappear in less than two weeks.

“Whether it be a hospital, a school, a nursing home, a vet clinic, I don’t know who could use it, but the goal is to find somebody that needs it,” Homovec said.

You can’t pour the liquids down the drain; they must be disposed of properly. So, as a result, Homovec has set up an email for anyone looking to grab truckloads of disinfecting supplies which can be reached here.


About the Authors:

Rod Meloni is an Emmy Award-winning Business Editor on Local 4 News and a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional.

Brandon Carr is a digital content producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with WDIV Local 4 since November 2021. Brandon is the 2015 Solomon Kinloch Humanitarian award recipient for Community Service.