A local entrepreneur and founder of a successful sunscreen company has donated $70,000 worth of his product to the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County for distribution at the Newport International Boat Show.
Paul Fleming, CEO of Z Blok sunscreen, donated 3,500 tubes of Z Blok for Kids sunscreen to be given away to attendees of the event. Each tube has a retail value of $20.
Fleming’s decision to donate sunscreen to the local charity is based on his own personal experience with skin cancer, which he developed as a child growing up sailing on Long Island Sound.
According to Fleming, “Quality sun protection for children is near and dear to my heart. Having neglected to protect myself from the dangers of UV rays as a child growing up sailing on Long Island Sound, I have had literally hundreds of various forms of skin cancer removed from my skin. Skin cancer is very preventable with the use of a high quality, mineral based sunscreen along with other skin protection measures.”
The Newport International Boat Show runs from Sept. 12 through Sept. 15. The Boys and Girls Club exhibit is in the Bohlin Tent. Free sunscreen is limited to one per person and will be given to the first 3,500 individuals.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
