There are four basic ways organizations can offer\ntheir social responsibility talents in times of need: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philanthropy<\/strong>: Donations of money and in-kind services. If you\u2019re Bob Kraft of the New England\nPatriots, you can send your private plane to China to pick up PPE (Personal Protective\nEquipment) in the form of N95 masks for healthcare workers on the front lines\nof the COVID19 battle. If you are\nfashion designer Ralph Lauren, you can make marks, isolation gowns and throw in\nan additional $10 million in response to the global pandemic. On a smaller\nscale, Ocean State Job Lots asks for 2% on every purchase to add to their $2\/hr\nincrease for employees who are essential workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Advocacy<\/strong>:\nThe American Bar Association advocates for the rights of special education\nstudents in this piece, which provides instruction on everything from\nadvocating for needed services to documenting the decline in learning progress\nduring COVID19: https:\/\/www.americanbar.org\/groups\/litigation\/committees\/childrens-rights\/practice\/2020\/advocating-for-special-education-services-during-covid19\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Volunteer Hours<\/strong>: Companies like Timberland have years of\nexperience providing the opportunity for their employees to give back. Since 1992, Timberland has offered employees\nup to 40 paid hours each year to serve in their communities through their Path\nof Service program. In 2019, Timberland\nemployees served over 72,000 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For those organizations who are looking for ways to contribute during COVID-19, there are volunteer-finding platforms such as Idealist (www.idealist.org<\/a>) and VolunteerMatch (www.volunteermatch.org<\/a>) to help find the right cause for your organization and employee base \u2013 both have options for filtering remote-only and coronavirus-specific opportunities.\u00a0 For example, I plugged in my city name and found opportunities that ranged from transporting fresh and prepared food from businesses to local human service organizations (through the nonprofit Rescuing Leftover Cuisine) to Table Wisdom, a video chat service that allows you to reach out to specific partners for regular chats on a range of topics during social distancing.\u00a0 Love for the Elderly (www.lovefortheelderly.org<\/a>) is an organization with volunteers from 56 countries looking for those who would like to send hand-written letters to the elderly living in care facilities who need an emotional lift.\u00a0 And if languages are your thing \u2026 consider volunteering for Translators Without Borders (www.translatorswithoutborders.org<\/a>) to help translate documents that will convey important information about COVID19 and how to prevent its spread to people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Products & Services<\/strong>: How can an airline help during these\nunprecedented times? Delta Air Lines is\npartnering with the U.S. Air Force, UTS Systems and Highland Engineering Teams\nto deliver up to 76 rapidly deployable pods to help military troops infected\nwith COVID-19 return home. Delta\u2019s Technical Operations division and wholly\nowned subsidiary Delta Flight Products combined their advanced manufacturing\ncapabilities to begin converting dozens of single-use, 40-foot shipping\ncontainers into rapidly deployable, reusable hospital care pods. Each pod is designed to attach inside\nmilitary transport aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In many ways, COVID19 has been a major triggering\nevent for us to start thinking, planning, and acting differently. Is there a way your organization can make a\ndifference, using your unique talents and resources, during these trying times?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robin Schell, APR, Fellow PRSA is Senior\nCounsel and Partner at Jackson Jackson & Wagner, a behavioral public\nrelations and management consulting firm based in the Seacoast area of NH. For more information about the firm, visit <\/em>www.jjwpr.com<\/em><\/a>\nor email her directly at <\/em>rschell@jjwpr.com<\/em><\/a>.\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are four basic ways organizations can offer their social responsibility talents in times of need: Philanthropy: Donations of money and in-kind services. If you\u2019re Bob Kraft of the New England Patriots, you can send your private plane to China to pick up PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in the form of N95 masks for healthcare … <\/p>\n