10 million free rides, meals, and deliveries
When the world stopped during the first wave of the pandemic, we showed up with 10 million free rides, meals, and deliveries.
COVID-19 upended all our lives, and our business. In March 2020, Uber—a company that powers movement—asked riders on our platform to stop moving. We urged them to stay home, so that we could help move what matters: helping get first responders to work, food to seniors, and emergency supplies to the front lines, all as part of our commitment to donating 10 million free rides, meals, and deliveries for those in need around the world.
Three months later, those 10 million rides 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 organizations in 54 countries to show up 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 sheltering 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 rides and meals to NHS staff during the first wave of the pandemic while the UK was under lockdown.
World Central Kitchen (US)
We facilitated delivery of over 300,000 fresh meals in Bronx, NY; Newark, NJ; and Washington, DC, to at-risk communities that were homebound as a result of the pandemic.
All these rides and deliveries wouldn’t have been possible without the millions of drivers and delivery people 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 we 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 delivery people who were diagnosed with COVID-19, and we successfully advocated 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 rides for vaccinations.
Read more about our impact work
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