By Laura Schreier, Sr. Content Marketing Manager, ALM Works
This piece is shared as part of Pledge 1%’s #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, which highlights how Pledge 1% members and the business community are coming together as a force for good to combat COVID-19.
So many people are hurting as a result of this pandemic. If you want to help, where do you even start? We spent the month of March watching as the seriousness of the pandemic started to hit home. The shutdowns began, and everyone got a crash course in epidemiology. It was overwhelming. It’s still overwhelming.
We wanted to donate our Pledge 1% money where it could do the most good. In these early days of the crisis, we decided to go to those directly fighting COVID-19: hospitals right in our own backyard. ALM Works put all of our yearly donations into hospitals near our two office locations: Half went to Newton-Wellesley Hospital here in Massachusetts, and half to St. Petersburg “City Hospital No. 15” in Russia.
Hospitals desperately needed to increase capacity to handle a surge in patients. The hospital in St. Petersburg needed to be outfitted with equipment and beds for COVID-19 patients, and Newton-Wellesley is actively involved in treatment and — just as importantly — prevention of further spread.
A thank-you letter from Newton-Wellesley noted that our donation aids virus sufferers as well as prevention measures. “Community hospitals are at the epicenter of controlling the spread of COVID-19,” the letter noted, adding that our donation came during a critical time in controlling the outbreak.
It’s become a cliche to talk about healthcare workers as the “front lines” of the fight, but they really are shouldering huge burdens right now, caring for desperately ill people while putting themselves at risk. We want to give them all the support they need.
This crisis will take a long time to overcome, and the economic ramifications are going to be severe for people all around the world. In addition to our Pledge 1% donation, the company also offered to match any employee’s personal donation to any organization related to the crisis. As individuals, we can’t control this pandemic — but as a community, we’ll do what we can to help each other through.
