Our Better Angels Are Stepping Up During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Right now the COVID-19 outbreak updates we’re getting are scary and disheartening. The number of confirmed cases is skyrocketing, and the number of deaths appears to be heading in that same direction. Our hospital readers, who are seeing a surge of infected patients, are worried that they will run out of personal protective equipment (PPE) for their employees, as well as ventilators for their patients. For those of us who are sheltering in place at home, many have lost their jobs or live in fear of soon being unemployed or losing their businesses.

The coronavirus has shaken us to the core, but in these dark times, the world’s better angels are stepping up their game big time. The number of donations and sacrifices, both great and small, by individuals and the business community is simply amazing.

So, let’s focus for a minute on the silver lining of the dark cloud that is hovering over us right now. Below is just a fraction of the people, organizations and businesses that are making generous donations and sacrifices in our fight against COVID-19. I know there are many more that I’ve missed. In our comments section below, please add their information so they can get the credit they deserve.

Financial Donations

• A regular customer of a Skillets restaurant in Naples, Florida, handed the manager $10,000 in cash the night before Florida forced all of its dining establishments in the state to close. The 20 staff members split the $10,000 tip, which amounted to $500 each.
• Celebrities are donating millions of dollars to fight COVID-19. They include Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation ($5 million to Direct Relief, Feeding America, Partners in Health, WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and the International Rescue Committee, as well as PPE for healthcare workers and more), Angelina Jolie ($1 million to No Kid Hungry), Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos ($1 million for ventilators and New York City women’s shelters), Lionel Messi ($1 million to Spain), Pep Guardiola ($1 million to Spain), Roger Federer ($1 million to Switzerland), Michael Jackson’s estate ($300,000), Gwenyth Paltrow ($100,000), WWE star Rusev ($20,000), Ryan Reynolds and wife Blake Lively ($1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada), Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Kanye West.
• NFL players and teams are making significant contributions, including New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees and his wife Brittany ($5 million to Louisiana’ COVID-19 relief efforts), Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson and wife Ciara ($1 million to Food Lifeline), Cardinals’ Chandler Jones (150,000 meals to Arizona and New York foodbanks), Arizona Cardinals ($1 million to the AZ Coronavirus Relief Fund) and the Green Bay Packers ($1.5 million).
• The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the health-focused philanthropic entity headed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergand his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, have donated $25 million to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help explore treatment options for the COVID-19 virus, reports Variety.
• The Roberts family, which controls Comcast, has donated $5 million to help students in Philadelphia get laptops for online instruction.
• The Qualcomm Foundation has donated $1 million to the San Diego COVID-19 Community Response Fund. The donation brings the San Diego COVID-19 Community Response Fund balance to more than $5.7 million thanks also to hundreds of individual and business contributions.
• Vistra Energy is donating $2 million to TXU Energy Aid, Ambit Cares, the United Way and a number partner agencies, food banks and food pantries.
• Miller Lite is donating $1 million to laid-off bartenders.
• Bacardi is promising $3 million in financial aid and support to struggling food and drink businesses, in addition to another $1 million pledged by the company’s Patron brand.
• Northwest Mutual is donating $1.5 million to Feeding America, as well as undisclosed donations to several other charities.
• Riot Games and their Co-Founders are donating $1.5 million to the Los Angeles Food Bank and Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. It is also working to secure PPE for Los Angeles hospitals.

Equipment Donations

• Apple will be donating 10 million face masks to the medical community.
• Many residents across the nation, including those in Los Angeles and San Francisco, are donating the PPE gear and medical supplies they own to their local hospitals.
• The Northern Kentucky Dental Society donated their extra masks and gloves to St. Elizabeth hospitals.
• University of Kansas researchers have donated lab kits to help the medical community process COVID-19 testing samples. As of Monday, they had collected about 20,000 columns that can be used to test samples.
• Lowe’s in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, donated supplies so the town’s firefighters can build a decontamination area. It will be used by first responders who might be exposed to the COVID-19 virus when they respond to emergencies.
• SpaceX is making and donating hand sanitizer, protective suits and face shields to donate to outside organizations fighting the coronavirus. It is also hosting a blood drive.
• Melody Levian Psy.D. and Elliot Zarabi have partnered with Sean Rad, the founder and CEO of Tinder, to deliver a large supply of PPE to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles.

Additionally, many companies are switching over their manufacturing plants to produce medical equipment and supplies that are needed by hospitals to combat the coronavirus crisis. Those companies include Ford, Chevy, Dyson and Tesla, which are now going to make ventilators for hospitals. One company that makes boat sails has repurposed their industrial sewing machines to make cotton masks for healthcare workers and others who need them.

Campus Safety thanks all of these individuals, businesses and organizations for their generosity and sacrifice. We know that there are many more angels out there. Let us know who you are and what you are doing to help!

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