It’s already been said countless times that Brazilians aren’t used to donate much. Donations in Brazil represent 0.2% of its GDP, according to a recent statement of XP’s CEO Guilherme Benchimol. But this scenario is starting to change as companies are raising money and food for families in a vulnerable situation across the country.
Isolation measures to prevent the coronavirus hit harder on poor people. Even though the government has announced a financial aid of BRL 600 (about $112,81) to informal workers, many people will have trouble getting food during the quarantine, when half of the Brazilian population is at home (according to data from InLoco). Because of this, some companies are on a task force to collect food.
The coronavirus pandemic and the consequent need for social distancing have made fundraising for poor communities become digital. With the help of some web influencers, Eduardo Lyra, CEO and founder of Gerando Falcões (something like “Creating Hawks”), an NGO that trains young people from poor communities, launched an online donation platform and has raised more than BRL 1 million.
Through the platform, people can sponsor the purchase of food and basic products to poor families, through a partnership with food voucher companies Ticket and Alelo.
Rappi, through an agreement with Gerando Falcões, is also allowing donations of basic food baskets for 3 months.
Donations of hygiene kits and food are from $9.40, $94 up to $376.
On the same path, the delivery app iFood also has a “donate” feature placed on the platform. Although it hasn’t been created because of the COVID-19, the startup has been sending notifications about the feature to raise donations of $1.32, $2.82 and $5.64
James is also supporting associations: CUFA, which assists population in poor neighborhoods in all 27 Brazilian states; Children’s Villages, which works with more than 500 children in 29 cities in all regions of Brazil and Monte Azul, an organization that leads 17 Health Units located on the outskirts of São Paulo.
