The Businesses Stepping Up to Stop COVID, and How You Can Help Too

Business news nowadays is mostly composed of gloomy forecasts about the economy and mass lay-offs by corporations. However, there are also many businesses that are donating their time, resources, and energy to fight the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Below are five ways businesses are stepping up to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.

1. Alcohol distillers and cosmetics companies producing hand sanitizer

Amidst Purell-hoarders sending prices skyrocketing on Amazon, alcohol distillers and perfume manufacturers are manufacturing hand sanitizer to protect consumers from viruses and price gougers. Two weeks ago, luxury brand LVMH began manufacturing hand sanitizer to distribute for free to French authorities and hospital systems, in lieu of manufacturing cosmetics and perfume products. With the aim of protecting French citizens and healthcare workers from COVID-19, LVMH has committed to manufacturing free hand sanitizer as long as is necessary. LVMH isn’t the only company producing desperately-needed hand sanitizer for healthcare workers; distillers across the world are turning their beverage-alcohol expertise to fill cleansing-alcohol needs. By March 20, distiller Pernod Ricard had produced 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer - the equivalent of 16,000 8 oz. bottles of Purell.

2. Big business and 3D-printing citizens building ventilators and producing N95 masks

Hand sanitizer isn’t the only product healthcare workers desperately need; countries around the world are also facing critical shortages in N95 masks and ventilators. In response, H&M is supplying surgical garments in place of fast fashion, while Rolls-Royce and McLaren Automotive are using their engineering expertise to supply hospitals with ventilators. 

Citizen volunteers are also doing their part by sewing cotton masks for hospitals and 3D-printing ventilator parts for factories. Team Open Source Ventilator (OSV) is an incredible example of citizens pooling resources to battle a global public health crisis. Started by three tech founders, Team OSV grew to over 2,500 engineers, designers, and medical professionals in less than a week, each of them united in an effort to shorten ventilator development cycles.

3. Providing homeschooling resources for parents and schools

Since quarantine began, many parents have discovered just how difficult it is to educate a child of any age. As one parent said to me, “I’ll never complain about teachers’ strikes again - teachers deserve to be paid like financial executives.” Thankfully, parents have a plethora of educational resources available at their disposal, resources that are overwhelmingly provided for free by a variety of companies and foundations. For example, The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has launched a toolkit of high-quality online resources for parents to use in homeschooling, a toolkit that includes the foundation’s own free online classroom and library.

4.Freezing layoffs

CEOs of massive American corporations are assuaging fears of large-scale layoffs by committing to retaining employees for the duration of 2020. Companies who have committed to employee job security include Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC, which collectively will keep over 200,000 employees financially secure.

5. Donating food and supplies to local hospitals

Small businesses are also doing their part to fight against coronavirus, with SMEs Knixwear and Qwench Juice Bar Oakville showing how powerful a smaller business can be. Knix is a shining example of how businesses can contribute to the COVID efforts not only through their own efforts, but also by encouraging their communities to get involved. Inclusive lingerie company Knixwear is mobilizing its engaged community to donate to a PPE GoFundMe that has raised almost $150k in ten days, providing 20,000 N95 masks, 30,000 surgical masks, and 50,000 gloves to hospitals in need. 

Qwench Juice Bar Oakville is another example of a small business rising up to face a huge challenge. The Oakville franchise arm of Qwench opened only a week before the COVID crisis took root in Canada, making this period a trial by fire for new franchisee Janet Lawlor. After closing her store to protect the health and safety of her new employees and customers, Lawlor put her stock of produce to good use by delivering free smoothies and juices to local hospitals, nursing homes, and paramedic units, providing healthy beverages to medical professionals who desperately need them.

6. Ways you can help fight COVID

In addition to ordering takeout from local restaurants, sewing masks, printing ventilator parts if you have access to a 3D printer, and giving to GoFundMe campaigns, you can fight COVID in many ways, big and small. You can:

●      Offer to buy groceries/drugstore goods for elderly, immunocompromised, or sick neighbours

●      Buy gift cards from local service businesses (hairdressers, clothing stores, etc) to use post-quarantine

●      Donate money to reputable nonprofits and food banks

●      Be mindful of your purchases - buy only what you need and leave essential goods for others

●      Respect quarantine guidelines - essential service employees and medical professionals are going to work for us; the least we can do is stay home for them

As business leader Ann Mukherjee said, “I say to everyone on my team that a time of crisis is not what builds your character, it’s what reveals it.” Use this opportunity to step up for your community in the same way that so many businesses have shown up for us. When you start to shop again post-quarantine, keep in mind the businesses who showed their true colours during this pandemic - both the good and the bad.