Earth Protect Blog

SB. Sustainable Business Updates, March 30, 2020

While the government stalls under pressure to provide necessary aid to the millions affected by COVID-19, a silver lining to this pandemic is being revealed as more and more businesses exemplify efforts to put people before profit.

Businesses large and small have stepped up to help their employees, customers and broader communities in which they operate. Here are a few examples of purpose in action, from our very own Corporate Member Network and Brands for Good Founding Partners. 

Campbell’s Soup Company is donating $1 million in cash and food to food banks in the communities in which it operates, and dedicating production runs to assist local food banks until the pandemic subsides.

Cisco is dedicating $225 million in cash and services to support various causes dedicated to combating the spread of the coronavirus and helping those affected.

CVS plans to hire 50,000 full-time, part-time and temporary workers that have been furloughed during the pandemic — and it has decided to tap directly into its customers’ workforces by taking on displaced workers from the Marriott and Hilton hotel chains. 

Ford Motor Company and 3M have partnereFord Motor Company and 3M have partnered to build much-needed Powered Air-Purifying Respirators, including a new design that employs existing parts from both companies (including the Ford F-150 truck’s cooled seating, and 3M’s HEPA filters) to increase efficiency and scalability. Ford has also designed a new face shield (to be tested this week in Detroit-area hospitals), and will also work with GE on expanding production capacity for GE Healthcare’s ventilator, with a simplified design that should allow for higher-volume production.

Johnson & Johnson donated one million masks, as well as goggles, protective suits, thermometers, respirators, contact lenses and sanitary personal care products to healthcare providers across China during the peak of the outbreak there.