Companies That Have Helped Americans Fight COVID-19

One of the companies that manufactures the N95 respirator masks that can better protect health care workers from the coronavirus is 3M. The masks have been in short supply at hospitals nationwide and around the globe, and in January, 3M doubled its global output of the respirators during the pandemic.

Working with the Trump Administration, the company also announced in early April it will import 166.5 million masks over the next three months, largely from its manufacturing plant in China, so it could continue to export U.S.-made masks to Canada and Latin America.

Alibaba is a Chinese e-commerce, entertainment, and cloud computing company. Through its charitable foundation, the company is donating 500,000 test kits and a million face masks to the United States.

E-commerce giant Amazon has taken steps to help its employees in part by setting up a $25 million relief fund for seasonal associates partners such as delivery drivers who are facing hardships related to the virus. Through Amazon Web Services, the company has also launched a $20 million Diagnostic Initiative to help speedup COVID-19 research and donated $5 million in Amazon devices around the world to communities in need as well as 8,200 laptops to Seattle schools to aid in remote learning.

American Family Insurance is sending its customers $50 per vehicle insured under one of the company’s policies. As more than 300 million Americans have been urged or ordered to stay home by state and local lawmakers, fewer people are on the roads, meaning fewer accidents and lower costs for insurance companies. American Family Insurance anticipates returning around $200 million to its customers at a time when widespread layoffs mean many Americans are struggling financially.

Tech giant Apple sourced, and procured, 20 million masks. As of late-March, at least 10 million of them were donated to health care workers across the United States, according to a statement from CEO Tim Cook. At the time, multiple state governors thanked Cook, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Apple sent 1.9 million of the masks to New York, which is widely considered to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States.

Apple also designed and produced medical face masks, which, as of early April, the company anticipated shipping at a rate of 1 million per week.

Audible, an audiobook streaming company, is one of several companies on this list giving away its core product for free. As children across the country are out of school, the company is not charging to stream a collection of children’s literature, both fiction and non-fiction.

Bacardi’s core business is alcoholic beverages, but in the midst of a pandemic, it is using its resources to produce badly needed hand sanitizer. As of late March, the company had committed to supplying enough alcohol to produce over a quarter million gallons of hand sanitizer. Much of it will be donated to local organizations and emergency workers.

Bank of America, along with several other consumer banks, has been taking measures to accommodate its customers who may be struggling financially as unemployment rates spike across the country. The bank is refunding overdraft fees, deferring mortgage payments and issuing refunds for late fees, and suspending foreclosures, evictions, and repossessions. With about $1.8 trillion in assets, Bank of America is one of the largest banks in the United States.

Beyond Meat, a plant-based food company, pledged in early-April to donate and distribute over 1 million of the company’s vegetarian Beyond Meat burgers to places like hospitals and food banks. The company’s pledge comes at a time when many Americans struggle to afford or access healthy meals.

Casetify makes cases and accessories for phones, smartwatches, AirPods, and other tech products. The company is selling a UV sanitizer for phones and donating 100% of the proceeds to a coronavirus relief organization. Though the company has not tested the sanitizer’s effectiveness on COVID-19 specifically, Casetify claims the sanitizer kills 99.9% of common household germs.

Chewy is an e-commerce website that specializes in pet food, toys, and supplies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s philanthropic efforts concentrated on relief for pets and pet owners. In partnership with the Humane Society, Chewy announced it was donating $1 million to provide food support for people and animals living in underserved areas. The donation, announced in late April, was the latest in a series of company donations that have gone to support animal shelters and provide pet health care supplies and that have totalled more than $4 million.

Cisco Systems is one of the largest companies in America. The tech company, in late-March, pledged $225 million in aid — $8 million in cash and $210 million worth of products — to organizations like the U.N. and WHO that are aiming to “prevent, detect, and manage the spread” of the virus.

New York-based fashion company Tapestry, which owns several brands including luxury bag maker Coach, announced in late March a $2 million commitment to support the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Small Business Continuity Fund. The company’s philanthropic arm, the Coach Foundation, is working in conjunction with Goldman Sachs and other foundations to help small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Costco is limiting how many people can enter a store at one time. To reward essential workers who are putting themselves at risk during the crisis, the company announced in early April that it would give first responders and health care workers first admittance into Costco stores. Paramedics, firefighters, and health care workers with proof of their position are able to cut the line.

Clothing manufacturer and retailer Eddie Bauer is using its resources to make and distribute medical masks. The company will donate 20,000 masks — one quarter of which will be the highly sought after N95 masks — to hospitals around its home state of Washington, which has been among the states hit hardest by the virus.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in late March that the company would be investing $100 million in grants to help journalists continue their mission during the pandemic — $25 million will go to the Facebook Journalism Project, and $75 million will go to marketing news organizations.

In the past, the company has been widely criticized by journalists and others for a number of reasons, including censorship and the way its targeted news feed narrows users’ experience.

Apparel manufacturer Fanatics makes official jerseys for major sports leagues, including Major League Baseball, among other sports gear. With the MLB season pushed back, however, the company has been using its materials and manufacturing facility to create single-use masks and gowns for health care professionals. Fanatics is hoping to make close to a million masks and gowns, which will be distributed for free to hospitals in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

President Donald Trump tweeted on March 22 that automakers Ford, GM, and Tesla were “being given the go ahead to make ventilators” and other medical devices to help with the pandemic. Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said the company was already doing that. Ford said it would work with 3M to manufacture hundreds of thousands of face shields and respirators, and with General Electric to help assemble ventilators.

Social distancing guidelines implemented throughout much of the U.S. by April have cratered demand for cars. Ford halted auto manufacturing in some plants on March 20, and says it has the cash necessary to keep plants closed until September.

Gap Inc., parent company of Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Gap clothing stores, is donating $1 million to local, state, national, and international nonprofit organizations providing relief during the COVID-19 pandemic through its philanthropic arm, the Gap Foundation. Like some other clothing companies on this list, Gap is also using its manufacturing resources to make personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health care workers.

Google is using its position as America’s most popular search engine to help keep communities informed and smaller businesses survive the economic crunch caused by the virus. The tech giant pledged $800 million worth of aid, though it should be noted much of this is in the form of ad space the company could otherwise be profiting from, not direct donations.

Google also offered the WHO and government agencies a quarter of a billion dollars worth of ad space that would inform the public about the coronavirus and how to limit its spread. It is also offering $340 million in ad credits to select small and medium businesses.

As more than 300 millions Americans either are or have been encouraged or ordered to stay in their homes, HBO is helped fill up the time by offering some of its most popular movies, TV series, and documentaries for free. Anyone, even those without a subscription, were able to stream shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Veep,” and more through the end of April.

New York City ranks among the hardest-hit places in America by the coronavirus, and many health care workers in the city have struggled to get to their jobs as public transit became unsafe. Hertz decided to use its idle rental cars to fill that gap, offering these workers free car rentals throughout April in the city. Hertz also lended Mount Sinai Health System free cargo van rentals to transport ventilators and other supplies.

In early April, Johnson & Johnson pledged $50 million to various organizations aiding frontline health care workers who are researching the virus and treating patients. J&J and Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority committed to spend over $1 billion to try to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

Many grocery stores and distribution center workers have demanded increased compensation as they continue to work as essential employees. In late-March, Kroger agreed to a $2 per hour hazard pay raise. The grocery chain is also equipping stores with partitions at registers and shortening store hours to give employees time to restock and rest. The company, which reported a same-store sales jump of 30% in March, also donated $3 million to food banks.

Like many other apparel companies, Levi’s has pledged a considerable amount of money to COVID-19 related relief efforts. In addition to the $3 million in relief money the company is donating, Levi’s, through The Levi Strauss Foundation, is fighting racism related to the coronavirus through Chinese for Affirmative Action.

Loom’s software allows users to make videos by capturing their screen, webcam, and microphone and instantly share the recording. In response to the outbreak, the company made its Loom Pro service free to all educators forever, not just during the pandemic, giving them better tools to teach students from afar. The company also removed recording limits on its free plan, extended free trials, and halved the price of Loom Pro for non-educators.

Home improvement retailer Lowe’s committed $25 million to philanthropic causes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aid will come in a variety of forms, including protective gear and other products to hospitals and funds to support businesses and company employees.

Like many other companies on this list, Texas-based arts and crafts company Michael’s is donating some of its products — in this case fabrics — to front line workers during the pandemic. In total, the company has donated $1 million worth of fabric for mask manufacturing. Additionally, it has posted templates online for both sew and non-sew masks for anyone looking to help by making masks for themselves or others.

Through its charitable division, footwear manufacturer New Balance has pledged $2 million in grants for nonprofits working at the local, regional, and global levels to help support relief efforts in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Like other companies on this list with manufacturing infrastructure, New Balance is also manufacturing general use face masks and other PPE at its facilities in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Norridgewock, Maine.

With sports leagues in America having halted play because of the pandemic, the New England Patriots put their idle plane to good use. Team owner Robert Kraft and his son and team president Jonathan Kraft worked with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to purchase 1.2 million masks in early April, sending the team’s plane to pick them up from China. Kraft and his family paid $2 million to buy these masks as well as another shipment of half a million more masks, 300,000 of which were sent to New York City.

Nike converted portions of its factories to make face shields and air-purifying respirators. The sporting goods and apparel giant worked with Oregon Health & Science University to repurpose padding, cords, and shoe soles into personal protective equipment that was donated to the university in the beginning of April.

Food and beverage company PepsiCo put together a $45 million support package in early April to help distribute goods to communities facing especially difficult challenges with the pandemic. The company said the money was meant to provide meals, protective equipment, and other services. The company also matched employee donations to nonprofits aiding in coronavirus relief throughout April, up to $2 million.

Fashion and apparel company Ralph Lauren, through the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation, pledged $10 million to coronavirus relief. Additionally, in early April, the company began production on at least a quarter million face masks, as well as 25,000 isolation gowns for health care workers.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his company would ship its spare FDA-approved ventilators to hospitals for free. There was some confusion about these devices, however. While hospitals are short on invasive ventilators that help people breathe and push oxygen into the lungs via a tube, Tesla has sent noninvasive ventilators known as BPAP machines. While not ideal for treating COVID-19 patients, these devices could still be useful. In early-April, the automaker also said it would be developing a prototype ventilator using car parts.

As college campuses across the country closed down, many students were left with nowhere to put their belongings. Moving company U-Haul stepped in to help, offering students displaced by the coronavirus a month of free storage at company-owned storage facilities.

As ride sharing has been all but phased out by social distancing limitations, Uber has been finding ways for its drivers to help during the pandemic. In mid-April, the company said it will provide 10 million free rides and food deliveries to “health care workers, seniors and people in need” across the world. It also said it will also use its Uber Eats delivery service to provide 300,000 free meals to first responders and health care workers. The company has also waived delivery fees for independent restaurants to help keep those businesses afloat.

In mid-March, athletic apparel company Under Armour announced plans to help Americans most affected by the pandemic. The company donated $1 million to hunger relief nonprofit Feeding America and is donating up to $1 million in money and apparel to ensure youth sports programs have the equipment they need to function.

Japanese clothing manufacturer and retailer has put its expertise to use to fight the spread of the coronavirus in the United States. Through its manufacturing facilities in China, the company is producing 10 million protective face masks — at least 1 million of which will be donated to American hospitals, according to a statement from the company.

Through its discount stores, supercenters, and Sam’s Club brand, Walmart operates on nearly 783.6 million square feet in the United States — more real estate than could fit on the island of Manhattan.

In early March, Walmart was tapped by the Trump White House to partner with the Department of Health and Human Services to set up drive-thru coronavirus testing sites in its parking lots. In a month and a half, the company was supporting 20 testing sites — a number expected to hit 100 by the end of May. The company anticipates these 100 sites would be able to conduct 20,000 tests per week.

Wells Fargo was in need of a public relations boost after its role in the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 and its fake account scandal from 2016. The bank is offering one of the more expansive COVID-19 relief packages among banks, pausing all evictions and auto repossessions and offering some fee waivers and deferred payments to customers on an individual basis. The bank’s foundation is also donating $175 million to help public health, housing, and food efforts.