How can I help in the face of the coronavirus situation?

The coronavirus crisis is highlighting, among many other things, human solidarity and generosity . In a time of extreme difficulty, there are many initiatives that have emerged with the aim of helping and collaborating to the best of our ability.

In this post we have compiled some of the campaigns and appeals that are being carried out to help, in most cases from home, and without taking unnecessary risks.

-Stay at home:

It is undoubtedly the most generous act that we can carry out in the current circumstances. The battle against the coronavirus is not only fought in hospitals. Staying at home is one of the most effective measures to slow the spread of the virus. In addition, washing your hands frequently and maintaining a safe distance of one and a half meters between people is essential these days.

-Write letters to admitted people:

' I don't know you but here I am ' is an initiative launched by the Madrid collegiate Pilar González, from the Hospital Universitario de La Paz. Its purpose is to connect citizens with people admitted to isolation through voluntary anonymous letters .

The objective is to contribute to improving the psychological and emotional health of these patients who, due to the coronavirus, spend their days in isolation and without the company of their relatives.

The letters have to transmit accompaniment , give messages of support and become a way for the recipient not to feel abandoned.

How to take part?

Those who wish can participate by writing a letter anonymously and sending it to noteconozcoperoaquiestoy@gmail.com . Children can also send letters and drawings.

Nurses and other healthcare professionals can volunteer to distribute these letters at their facilities. For this, it is necessary to send an email to the same address indicated above, with your personal data and place of work.

A web page ( https://www.noteconozcopero.org ) and an Instagram profile ( @noteconozcopero ) have been set up, where more information about this initiative can be found.

A group of volunteers from the initiative, at the Príncipe de Asturias Hospital in Alcalá de Henares.

Another initiative very similar to this is the one carried out by Corazones de Papel . This non-profit organization is also in charge of sending anonymous letters from citizens to isolated people admitted for coronavirus.

-Donate blood:

Each Blood Bank of each Autonomous Community has drawn up its own action protocol that makes it possible to make donations compatible with the preventive measures established during the state of alarm for the coronavirus. We recommend that you inform yourself well about the measures established in your region to be able to donate blood safely.

To donate blood it is essential:

• Be in good health.
• Hydrate well. Drink liquids (that do not contain alcohol), both before and after donating.
• Not having a fever or cold symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat...) nor having had them in the last 15 days.
• Not having been in a European country in the last 15 days or outside Europe in the last 30 days (the exclusion period may be longer in countries endemic to Chagas disease and malaria).
• Take extreme care and personal hygiene measures as dictated by the health authorities ( hand hygiene, covering your cough with your arm, use of disposable tissues, etc. ) and try to bring your own pen.
• Take your temperature before leaving home. With 37º or more do not go to donate.
• To avoid concentrations of many people, we recommend going to donate without companions who are not going to donate and by appointment.
• If, in the 14 days after the donation, the donor has symptoms such as malaise, fever, cough, etc., they must notify the Blood Bank corresponding to their region or Autonomous Community.
• Donors confirmed as positive for this virus will be excluded from donating for at least 14 days from the complete resolution of symptoms.
• Blood donation is a public service, and therefore there is permission to leave home to donate. However, after donating you can request a receipt.

These criteria will be subject to modification depending on the development of the coronavirus pandemic.

- Help older people:

The ' #YoHagoPorT i' campaign, launched through Civil Protection and the Red Cross, asks to mobilize for the elderly without leaving home. Maintaining telephone contact with our families at this time is an escape route for all. That is why paying special attention to our older relatives is one of the most generous acts we can do.

In addition, this campaign advises to be aware of neighbors or older acquaintances who live alone to find out if they need something or if they are well. Also remember that in case of need the elderly can be helped by doing the shopping for them or going to pharmacies for them as long as the appropriate prevention measures are taken, such as keeping a distance of 1.5 or 2 meters, washing your hands before and after management and cover your hand with your arm when coughing.

Also, remember the importance of trying not to touch anything in the event of having to enter an older person's house and help them avoid attempts to abuse or deceive them by recommending that they not open to anyone they don't know .

- Minutes in company:

Thinking once again of the elderly, the organization Minutes in Company has set up a free telephone for older people who feel isolated.

How does it work?

1. The older person calls.
2. You are served through a professional call center.
3. The call is referred to the team of volunteers that you can be a part of.

Who is it for?

• Older people isolated in their homes .
• Seniors who live in residences and do not receive visitors.
• Hospitalized seniors.

The old people are the most vulnerable group due to COVID-19 and many of them they live alone in their homes, so they are isolated.

- Make masks:

Under the hashtag ' #modistassolidarias ' another movement has emerged that seeks to bring together all the necessary tools to manufacture masks. From the donation of 100% cotton fabrics by various companies in the textile sector to the voluntary action of thousands of dressmakers and seamstresses who provide their services free of charge to make the much-needed masks.

An example resulting from this movement is the union of @_wolflamb_ with @thelabtalents to contribute their grain of sand against Covid-19. Both brands make an appeal on their respective Instagram profiles to anyone who has the resources to manufacture masks together with them and ask that any risk group that urgently needs this material contact them. If you find yourself in one of these two situations, do not hesitate to write an email to: amor@wolfflamb.es .

Along the same lines, Laura Corsini, founder of Bimani, is also looking for workshops and volunteers who know how to sew to make masks and distribute material, so that it reaches hospitals in Madrid as soon as possible.

It is also raising funds both to pay the workshops that want to join, and to purchase other materials (thread, rubber bands, shipping envelopes) and to manage the shipments of the cut fabric to the different addresses and workshops. You can collaborate here or contact her to receive more information about her initiative at @bimani13

- Non-health volunteers:

The Spanish Volunteer Platform is another way through which we can contribute our grain of sand. They work in coordination with the Government to detect possible existing needs and solve them.

In some cases it may consist of taking the purchase to an older person; in others, it involves holding conversations several times a day with people who live alone, to establish routines, that is, checking that they have gotten out of bed, washed themselves, and eaten, for example; and in others, help dependent people who are not receiving home care these days.

- Solidarity rainbows in the windows:

This is one of many popular appeals that seek that all of us, as a community, carry out joint initiatives, so that these days can be a little more bearable. In this case, thinking especially of the youngest members of the family, so that they too feel part of a common project, that we are all going through the same thing.

One of these endearing and supportive measures is to draw a rainbow on a sheet or paper with a message of encouragement to health workers or other children and hang it on the balcony or window, so that the streets are filled with colour.

You can find rainbow coloring here .

Solidarity rainbow on a terrace in Ponferrada. Photo: Césa Sánchez Leonoticias Diario

- Your own ideas or initiatives: If you have detected a need that is not being covered, you want to launch an initiative or share information about campaigns that are already running at the moment, do not hesitate to leave us a comment or write to hola@believeathletics.com . We will be delighted to give voice to all that constructive proposal focused on helping each other at such an unusual time as this.