CNN recently ran a story entitled – the pandemic risks bringing out the worst in humanity.
Rather than focus on the negative, I decided to collect some of the positive business responses to COVID-19. This is probably just a small sampling of the positive responses. I may update this list from time to time; please feel free to add more in the comments or email me. [Updated with some suggestions from my business ethics students and to include some of the highlights from this excellent, more extensive list that a reader e-mailed.]
- Alibaba co-founder is donating masks and test kits to the US.
- AT&T provides free wireless to school districts and 60 days free service to new customers
- Bank of America allows borrowers to pause mortgage payments
- Comcast is offering free internet to low-income customers for two months and opening up WiFi hotspots and waiving disconnect/late fees.
- Dallas Mavericks are paying their hourly workers despite the NBA season being suspended.
- Delta waives change fees.
- Disney paying workers and donating food
- General Motors to support production of ventilators
- Goldman Sachs, Capital One, and American Express waived interest payments
- Google is offering free virtual tours of 1200+ museums & building a triage website (currently just for Bay area)NextDoor adds help maps and groups.
- Kellogg offering $4M in food relief
- Major League Baseball Pledges $30M to Ballpark Workers
- Publix offering special shopping hours for senior citizens. (Kroger, Giant, Target, Whole Foods and Dollar General are also doing this)
- Starbucks is offering free therapy sessions for its employees
- Taco Bell will continue to pay workers during the pandemic
- Tesla's CEO (Elon Musk) donating ventilators
- U-Haul is offering 30 days of free storage for college students
- Many distilleries and breweries make hand sanitizer (here, here, and here). (As is Louis Vuitton)
- Many online learning platforms are providing free materials.
- Many fitness studios are streaming free classes online (here, here, and here)
- Many musicians live streaming music for free.
- Many companies are offering more flexible working conditions and paid sick leave (beyond what is being required)
- And here is another list. 50 Ways Companies are Giving Back.
Also related to COVID-19, I just came across this article about David Lat (founder of "Above the Law"). David is an acquaintance of mine and many of our readers. According to the article, David has COVID-19 and has been dealt a particularly harsh case. David is an incredibly kind person, with a beautiful family, and his case has made me take the virus even more seriously.