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How Big Companies are Helping During COVID-19

How Big Companies are Helping During COVID-19

Coronavirus has showed the best and worst of humanity. The media has largely focused on the negatives: hoarders, looters, gluttons and irresponsible government officials. Despite that, some big companies have been donating millions of dollars to help families, charities, businesses and cities.

In this article, we’ll share a few stories of successful businesses that have done wonderful things during these trying times. Let’s dive right in.

Alibaba

When the World Health Organization projected Africa would be hit hard by Coronavirus, Alibaba swung into action immediately. The Chinese online retailer packed six million masks, 1.1 million testing kits and 60,000 PPEs and sent them to Ethiopia— the African Union headquarters.

Within a month, nearly every African country had received a consignment of testing kits, protective gear and face masks. Jack Ma cited the need to “take action now” as his reason for deciding to help Africa.

American and British Breweries

Unless you haven’t been watching news, breweries all over the world have been donating sanitizers left, right and center.  In the US, some distillers have been giving out sanitizers to anyone who drives by for any reason.

Closer home, Scottish brewery Brew Dog was one of the first British breweries to offer mass production of sanitizers free of charge. Soon, other companies like Asahi, Bacardi and Carlsberg began production of the same.

In case you’re wondering, breweries are creating sanitizers because it comes from alcohol: their primary product. However, some companies are also providing monetary donations, like Carlsberg donating £10,000 to local COVID-19 response funds.

 Amazon

Amazon has been the center of attention for many reasons this year. First, it’s been dubbed life-saving for helping people buy essentials hassle-free amid nationwide lockdowns. But founder Jeff Bezos has been under pressure to donate more money with all the wealth he’s earned this year.

That said, Apple has been helping small and medium-sized businesses constantly since COVID-19 began. In March, it donated $5 million to Seattle businesses impacted the most by coronavirus.

Then Jeff Bezos donated $100 million to national COVID-19 response funds. Predictably, other billionaires followed suit immediately. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook donated $25 million, Michael Bloomberg $74.5 million and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey a whopping $1 billion.

Apple

Apple is yet another Silicon Valley giant that has been donating to charities since COVID-19’s onset. First, it gave out 10 million N95 masks to healthcare facilities throughout the country.

Then it designed a screening tool to help America track people infected and exposed to the disease. After that, the tech giant donated $25 million to COVID-19 relief causes.

 It didn’t stop there. The Tim-Cook headed company has been helping out American families and NGO’s for the past six months. For example, it’s been donating proceeds from Product Red to coronavirus relief efforts.

Education

Like distillers, online educators have been offering what they do best free or close to free. Coursera, for example, is now providing over 3800 courses cost free for a limited time. On the flip side, SEO brand Moz Pro has been offering free digital marketing classes since March.

There are plenty more companies like Moz and Coursera out there. They’ve been offering all sorts of classes: engineering, art, communication, math, entrepreneurship, marketing and home repairs.

In other words, you can quarantine and learn a new skill. It doesn’t matter what you want to learn. If you have the will, there’s a way to get lessons free.

Fashion Brands

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton might not give out designer items in the name of COVID-19. But it’s putting its production houses to good causes. For example, it’s been creating medical gowns, masks and sanitizers and donating them throughout France.

Louis Vuitton isn’t the only fashion brand giving back to society in these tough times. Prada, for example, recently donated 110,000 masks and 80,000 medical overalls in Italy. Another Italian brand, Bottega Veneta, donated €300,000 to a research company exploring the lasting effects of COVID-19.

Support to Small Businesses

Although many brands are focused on helping healthcare facilities and families, some companies have been showing support to small businesses. Wells Fargo and Bank of America, for example, have deferred credit card payments and given out grants to thousands of businesses.

In April, Facebook launched a $100 million fund to help 30,000 businesses in the world. After that, Yelp offered $25 million in ad credits to businesses interested in advertising on the online review platform.

Free Resources

As working from home becomes popular worldwide, some companies are stepping in to offer a lending hand with free resources. LinkedIn, for example, is teaching people how to work from home.

Cisco, in contrast, is giving out 90-day licenses for businesses to conduct online meetings smoothly. Another tech company, 1Password, is helping startups run operations securely for six months.

There are more freebies for all sorts of businesses. If you’re starting a website, for example, you can get discounted hosting services and marketing tools free for a limited time. The best part of it is that most companies aren’t giving out stripped down versions of their tools. You’ll get comprehensive tools.

Pharma Giants

Pharmaceuticals are often criticized for bailing people at their time of need. But not this year, at least not the brands donating test kits. American Pharma giant Roche, for example, has been donating 400,000 test kits every week since April. These tests provide up to 960 results every eight hours.

In Britain, the government called upon labs and pharmaceuticals to help create ventilators from as early as March. Fortunately, a few big businesses responded. Vauxhall, a 3-D printing business, was amongst the first companies to respond to the request.

Conclusion

When COVID-19 ravaged the world early this year, some businesses offered to help. From Apple and Facebook to Twitter and Google, big businesses worldwide have been offering millions of dollars to relief funds, businesses and charities.

Of course, it’s not just the big businesses donating. Plenty of small businesses have been helping out in countless ways. And in doing so, they’ve been saving lives in ways they can’t imagine.

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