10 million free trips, meals and deliveries
When the world stopped during the first wave of the pandemic, we showed up with 10 million free trips, meals and deliveries.
COVID-19 turned all of our lives and our businesses upside down. In March 2020, Uber – a company that powers movement – asked riders on our platform to stop moving. We urged them to stay at home so that we could help move what matters: helping get first responders to work, food to senior citizens and emergency supplies to the front line, all as part of our commitment to donating 10 million free trips, meals and deliveries to those in need around the world.
Three months later, those 10 million trips and deliveries had happened. As a result, doctors could get to work in India. Vulnerable families received food parcels in Mexico. And victims of domestic violence could take trips to shelters and safe spaces. Around the globe, Uber partnered with more than 200 organisations in 54 countries to be there for those who needed help. Here are just 3 examples of our innovation, driving our impact network around the world:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (South Africa)
Uber distributed over 1.4 million prescriptions to patients staying at home during the crisis, an initiative led by the Western Cape Department of Health with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
NHS (UK)
We provided 300,000 free trips and meals to NHS staff during the first wave of the pandemic while the UK was in lockdown.
World Central Kitchen (US)
We facilitated the delivery of over 300,000 fresh meals in Bronx, NY, Newark, NJ and Washington, DC to at-risk communities that were having to stay at home due to the pandemic.
All of these trips and deliveries wouldn’t have been possible without the millions of drivers and couriers on the Uber platform, who themselves were essential workers, helping to keep our communities running during this unprecedented crisis. And a top priority was to do whatever we could to keep them safe. Acknowledging the risks they faced, we invested more than $50 million in PPE and quickly put in place a No mask, no ride policy, using our technology to help drive accountability. We were the first in our industry to provide direct financial assistance to drivers and couriers who were diagnosed with COVID-19, and we advocated successfully for drivers to be included in government stimulus packages.
While the pandemic dramatically accelerated the adoption of food delivery, it was still an incredibly challenging time for restaurants. Of course drivers weren’t the only people who were financially affected by the crisis. As millions in the restaurant industry were hit hard, we made a $6 million donation to the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund in the US, launched an in-app contribution feature that put more than $20 million into the bank accounts of restaurants, and announced $4.5 million in grants to struggling US businesses. We also added new app features designed to meet the evolving needs of restaurants around the world.
Find out about our 10 million free and discounted trips for vaccinations.
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