North Carolina’s tennis association teams up with distillery to make their own hand sanitizer

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    CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WGHP) — North Carolina’s tennis association is working with a distillery in Chapel Hill to produce hand sanitizer.

As the United States Tennis Association North Carolina prepares for tennis events across the state as the pandemic, they’re teaming up with TOPO Organic Distillery to take the issue into their own hands.

TOPO Organic Distillery is a sister location of the Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery in Chapel Hill.

Esteban McMahan, the TOPO Spirit Guide, said the distillery didn’t previously make hand sanitizer but felt it was important to help the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We already had ethanol on hand,” McMahan said. “We had a tank of vodka and a tank of unaged whiskey that were ready to bottle. The first thing we did was re-distill those to 95% ABV (alcohol by volume) and made hand sanitizer to donate to first responders, healthcare workers and those in need.”

TOPO is making the hand sanitizer using the World Health Organization’s alcohol formula considered “the gold standard for hand sanitizer formulation,” TOPO says.

ABV of more than 70% is recommended to kill viruses, and TOPO is making hand sanitizer with an ABV on 80%.

USTA North Carolina’s Executive Director Kelly Gaines said supporting local companies is important.

“Small businesses are the heart of towns like Chapel Hill,” Gaines said. “We are grateful to TOPO Organic Distillery for their willingness in their part of keeping tennis players safe.”

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