Plenty of philanthropic millionaires and billionaires have pledged some of their wealth to help in the fight against COVID-19. But there are also everyday heroes doing incredible things to raise money to tackle coronavirus, and some are raising millions. Click or scroll through to have a look at some examples of ordinary people around the world who have become extraordinary fundraisers during this global pandemic.
Naples has an age-old tradition when it comes to coffee, known as il caffè sospeso – "the suspended coffee" – where you pay for two coffees: one for yourself and one for somebody who can’t afford to buy their own. As the country is in lockdown, this approach is now being used to help those worst affected by coronavirus, but instead of coffee it’s being applied to groceries. When ordering a food delivery from Campagna Amica markets and stalls, shoppers have the option to donate a food package to needy families in the area. All of the produce is local, and includes fresh fruit and vegetables, flour, cheeses and meats. It's not known exactly how much money people have donated to the cause so far, but it is helping to feed people in need across the country.
Many small businesses are struggling at the moment as they’ve suddenly had to shut up shop, and for some this is made worse by the fact they don't have a website that they can use to continue trading. One teacher in Munich was sad to see the number of "Closed" signs around the city centre and wanted to see if she could help. Ulrike Pauli got in touch with an independent bookshop near to where she lives and after finding out that the store was having financial difficulties, offered to cover a month’s rent on behalf of the shopkeeper. Ulrike had originally planned to be on holiday over the Easter period, but as that was ruled out, she decided to invest the money in her local area instead.
Many of the fantastic fundraisers featured in our roundup are in support of healthcare workers, but one nurse in Huntsville Alabama decided to start his own donation page to help others. Chasen Uptain was concerned about service workers in his area who were having their hours cut, or were losing their jobs altogether, and so decided to raise money to help. So far the Huntsville Bars GoFundMe page has reached $1,750 (£1.4k), but Chasen hopes to make $20,000 (£16.2k) to support the local bartenders and servers.
Back in March, a number of schools in Vermont were closed for deep cleaning after suspicions arose that a staff member may have had coronavirus. Pupils were sent home, but one parent wanted to show her appreciation for the sanitation staff keeping her children safe. Mum-of-four Brooke Thomas started a fundraiser to say thank you to those workers who risked their own health to clean the building, and donations exceeded the goal of $200 (£160) within hours. By the end of the fundraising campaign, the community had raised over $7,000 (£5.6k), which was given to the facility staff as a thank you for their hard work.
Rajinder Singh, 73, likes to keep active and has a particular penchant for skipping. The fitness fanatic has been posting workout videos on his YouTube channel, 'Raj Skipping Sikh', which he has put together to help those who are missing their daily exercise. His videos include skipping (of course), running and even mowing the lawn. Raj is also raising money for the NHS through his love of jumping, and so far he’s raised over £7,295 ($9k) via his JustGiving page, which has surpassed his £5000 ($6.2k) target.
The fight against coronavirus isn’t only accepting cash or card payments – donors have also been pledging sums of Bitcoin (BTC) to help the cause. The digital currency community raised more than 3.6 BTC – the equivalent of more than $20,000 (£16.2k) – for the Italian Red Cross Colli Albani Committee. The money raised from the donations will be used to set up an advanced medical post (AMT) in Castel Gandolfo, just outside of the country's capitaly. The AMT will give healthcare staff a place to assess whether or not patients require urgent medical attention, and it will include a self-supporting pneumatic tent.
A community choir in the UK hasn’t let lockdown get in the way of its rehearsals as members are continuing to sing together virtually. London City Voices decided to record a special rendition of You’ve Got a Friend by Carole King in order to raise awareness and funds for Women’s Aid, a charity which has experienced a surge in demand for its domestic abuse support services as a result of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. So far the song has raised more than £28,000 ($34.6k) for the charity, and the singers behind London City Voices have more performances in the pipeline.
A lack of personal protective equipment, or PPE, has been a controversial issue in the UK during the coronavirus outbreak. NHS staff have reported not feeling safe while treating infected patients, and a tragic number of healthcare workers have lost their lives as a result. A community of thousands of Londoners known as the #VisorArmy have taken matters into their own hands and are churning out thousands of much-needed visors on a weekly basis. Donations made through the team’s GoFundMe page go towards buying materials for the essential protective equipment, and the campaign has already raised more than £40,000 ($50k), which is enough money to produce more than 100,000 visors.
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India went into total lockdown in March, and although restrictions are slowly starting to ease, many people are struggling to feed their families. Jasper Reid owns 25 restaurants in New Delhi, but as they have been forced to close, the restauranteur has put his catering knowledge to good use elsewhere. Along with his management team, Jasper is distributing food and supplies to vulnerable people, including refugees, daily-wagers and migrant workers. So far the cause’s GoFundMe page has racked up more than £96,000 ($119k) in donations, and that's only set to grow.
In Belarus, volunteers are playing a vital role in ensuring that their country is as well-equipped as it can be during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Alexander Lukashenko has been hesitant to acknowledge the existence of the virus and has said it wouldn't claim the lives of any of his citizens, despite reports suggesting that over 50 people have already died. As a result, volunteers have stepped in to do what they can. The initiative #byCovid19 was launched by activist Andrej Stryzhak, with the aim of crowdfunding in order to get hold of and distribute equipment to help fight coronavirus. The group has already raised more than £100,000 ($125k), and its distribution of key equipment like ventilators is helping to keep Belarus' health system alfloat.
Everybody is feeling the impact of the coronavirus, but perhaps none more so than those who were already living in refugee camps, where necessary precautions such as regular handwashing and social distancing just aren’t possible. The Leave No One Behind project is encouraging people to donate money to support local aid organisations in Germany who can help people who were already in crisis before the virus broke out. Aid workers want to do what they can to evacuate the overcrowded refugee camps so that people living there have the best chance of surviving the coronavirus crisis. So far the cause has racked up an impressive €267,000 ($290k/ £240k) in donations.
Margaret Payne first climbed Suilven mountain in Scotland when she was 15 years old, and 75 years later she's doing it again. This time the trek has a twist: the 90-year-old will be scaling the entire 731m on her very own staircase. Margaret initially set out to raise £10,000 ($12k) to support the NHS during the coronavirus outbreak, but admirers of her extraordinary efforts have already donated more than £276,000 ($342k). In order to complete the hike Margaret has worked out that she will need to go up and down her stairs 282 times, which she predicts that it will take her around two months.
Brompton Bikes are foldable bicycles designed for peddling around the city, and the London-based company has now made its rental bikes available for NHS workers. In March the company offered its bikes to healthcare workers to save them from having to commute on buses or trains, and it was overwhelmed with responses. Demand has gone national, and now Brompton Bikes is raising money to be able to produce and distribute more bikes to key workers. So far the Wheels for Heroes campaign has reached over £300,000 ($370k), and is hoping to reach its goal of £400,000 ($493k) to get bikes to all of the staff who need them.
Feed the Heroes started out as a small group in Ireland looking to raise money to help their friends and families working in healthcare. The donations would go towards sending them food from local businesses, which not only keeps the essential workers well-fed, but also supports trade in the area. The initial goal was €250 ($272/£218) but just over a month later, donations to the fundraiser’s GoFundMe page have reached more than €880,000 ($955k/£773k). The team behind Feed the Heroes has scaled up the food mission to make it a nationwide service, delivering lunches and dinners to those working on the frontline against COVID-19.
Cities have generally been the worst hit parts of the countries affected by coronavirus, and New York has reported more cases and deaths than any other state. As is sadly the case for a lot of healthcare workers across the world, hospitals there are seeing shortages of the PPE that they rely on to do their jobs safely. Seeing friends unprotected as they tried to save others, Ben Wei launched A Million Masks, a support fund collecting donations to supply frontline workers with the equipment they need. So far the campaign has raised more than $616,000 (£500k), and Wei and his team hope to hit $750,000 (£608k) over the coming weeks.
Spain is one of the worst affected countries by the coronavirus pandemic, and while medical companies are racing to produce a vaccine there is an equal amount of pressure to find the most effective treatments. Institutions across Spain are pooling their knowledge to carry out studies, including the Fundación Lucha contra el Sida, IrsiCaixa and the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital. This level of collaborative research takes a huge amount of funding, but the people of Spain have been keen to donate to project #YoMeCorono, and more than €2 million ($2.2m/£1.8m) has already been raised.
Read more about the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine
Italy was one of the first European countries to be severely hit by coronavirus, and it remains the worst affected in terms of its death toll. But Italians have been doing what they can to reduce the impact that the disease is having on their country, and the GoFundMe page Coronavirus, rafforziamo la terapia intensiva – "Coronavirus, let’s strengthen the therapy" – has raised more than €4.5 million ($4.8m/£4m). The money will go to the intensive care unit at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, where it will help to equip wards with essential equipment, including fans and non-invasive ventilation devices.
A number of campaigns have swept across social media to support medical staff working to fight COVID-19, but few have had as much traction as the UK's Run for Heroes. British people have been encouraged to run 5km, donate £5 ($6.20) via Virgin Money Giving, and then nominate five friends to do the same, with proceeds going to NHS Charities Together. The initial target of the fundraiser was £5,000 ($6.2k), but after that was reached within a matter of days, organisers have set the bar higher, and they now hope to raise as much as £5 million ($6.2m) for the UK's NHS. At the time of writing the initiative isn’t far off the new target, at £4.5 million ($5.6m).
Trek Across Maine is a 180-mile bike ride that was due to celebrate its 36th birthday in June. But as a result of the pandemic, the event has been cancelled – in its traditional format at least. Instead, competing cyclists are being encouraged to take on the challenge as Virtual Trekkers, where each participant will complete 60, 120, or 180 miles on their bike, but in their own area and while practising social distancing. The trek will still be in aid of the American Lung Association, but the donations will be part of a bigger drive by the charity to raise $25 million (£20.1m) to fight COVID-19.
Perhaps the most famous everyday hero this pandemic has seen, 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore from the UK has raised a staggering £26 million ($32m) for NHS Charities Together emergency coronavirus appeal. The captain's initial plan was to raise £1,000 ($1.2k) by walking 100 laps of his garden before he turned 100 on 30 April, but the fundraiser has gone above and beyond all expectations. And the total is only set to grow, as Captain Tom has now teamed up with British musical star Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir to release a rendition of the song You'll Never Walk Alone, which has already topped the UK charts. The Captain's efforts have seen him become recognised all over the globe, and as the veteran completed the last of his 100 laps he had this message of hope for everybody who watched: “At the end of the day we shall all be okay. The sun will shine on you again and the clouds will go away.”
Now read about the rich and the famous donating their fortunes to combat COVID-19