Can you fulfill your corporate social responsibility and maintain social distancing? Yes, by working together apart. CSR and social distancing—it’s a thing. And that’s good news for your company and millions of essential workers around the country.

When most of us think of essential workers, health care providers, grocery and drugstore personnel, and child care providers spring to mind. But the truth is that’s not even a fraction of the number of champions keeping us afloat.

There are nearly 60 million Americans who wake up every day and provide essential services without which our country would sink.

They include farm workers, and warehouse workers. Communications and IT personnel [without whom you wouldn’t be able to read this article]. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians. Long-haul truck drivers. Delivery drivers. Taxicab drivers. Maritime pilots. Gas and electric utility workers. Petroleum and fuel production workers.

CSR and social distancing: virtual kindness

These people show up for you every day. Now it’s your turn to pay it forward. And you can fulfill your responsibility to be a good corporate neighbor without risking your health. How? Through virtual charitable team building workshops. You can maintain a safe distance and still close the financial gap for some essential service providers. 

Be a buddy and give a buddy

First responders have never been more challenged or more heroic than they are right now. They are bombarded with heartaches and hardships every day that most of us cannot even imagine. One way your team can help is to donate gifts that will heal their hearts along with the hearts of  some emotionally distraught children.

Rescue Buddies are stuffed animals given to children who are reeling from shock after a house fire, domestic violence, auto accident, or family death. Firefighters, health care providers, social workers, and police officers are often the first people these kids encounter after a life-altering event. These first responders carry Rescue Buddies with them to give these frightened babes something to cling to when their little world is falling apart. 

During a Rescue Buddies Charitable Team Building Workshop you and your staff will literally stuff and assemble these huggable toys. You’ll tag each one with a birth certificate; and you can add loving notes of encouragement as well. Then your cuddly bird, bear, fish, or moose is tenderly stored in a brightly colored backpack and stashed away in a squad car or fire truck until they’re needed.

With Magnovo as a liaison, you can also  partner with  a social service organization to add age-appropriate books to your stash of donations. Imagine a child clutching your adorable little bear while reading an amazing book you provided. 

These are gifts that you, the first responder, the child, and their parents will never forget. Tragedies can be life-defining events, but your kindness can help rewrite this milestone in a child’s memory forever.

Make caring your mission

Because essential workers are just that, they can’t make the adjustments to their schedules that many of us can. So they need additional support right now for their children . 

This new school year is especially challenging because so many children are studying remotely. Here’s where you come in. During a Mission: Kids Care Charitable Team Building Workshop your staff can pool your resources remotely to donate much-needed school supplies to the children of essential workers in your town.

Naturally the list of basic school supplies—including paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, calculators,  and rulers—is still the order of the day. But now, so are computers, software, and other digital technology some families cannot afford. 

And the home-school model has made the learning curve a steep one for a lot of parents. For example, in a home-based classroom, the decor should inspire children to learn even though they’re still at home. But posters,  bulletin boards, pencil sharpeners, maps, world-globes, and art supplies, aren’t typically on parents’ shopping lists.

Your company can make this strange, exciting new territory easier to navigate by donating many of the supplies these essential working parents cannot purchase.

With Magnovo’s help, CSR and social distancing can work to boost the morale of your staff and increase your goodwill in the community.