By now, it is pretty obvious the pandemic has disrupted many aspects of our lives, whether you are dealing with illness, social distancing, and/or working from home for the first time, it is not easy. We all want to get back to something close to normal. And as headlines grow more ominous, it is easy to feel powerless about changing the course of the pandemic while diligently washing your hands for the umpteenth time on a given day.
But since no one knows when that will be, I will be pointing out a few notable organizations that are chipping in to help.

While the government has been struggling to administer tests and get enough supplies for health care workers, these organizations have directly brought resources to the front lines, donated proceeds, supplies, and also helped prioritize vulnerable and needy Nigerians.

FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK (FCMB)

There is a valid reason this organization is taking the first spot, and it is simply because of its multi-dimensional support in the fight against COVID-19. As part of the Central Bank's intervention initiative in partnership with the private sector to assist the Federal Government known as CACOVID, FCMB contributed a whopping 250 million naira to help support households and businesses to reduce the impact of Coronavirus by providing personal protective equipments (PPE), building of treatment and isolation centres and distribution of food items to as much as 10 million economically vulnerable Nigerians.

Also, FCMB in partnership with the Ogun State ministry of Health is sponsoring the testing of 3000 people in Ogun State to determine their COVID-19 status. This is done to support the state government's efforts to confirm and curtail the spread of the pandemic.

Also, With millions of Nigerians struggling to get access to food amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, FCMB has come together with a coalition of partners led by Babban Gona to create Givefood.ng, an emergency food relief platform to provide food and nourishment to needy Nigerians.

Also, FCMB is providing relief items to challenged individuals and households across Nigeria affected by the lockdown by working with various charities and state governments. The palliatives include Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and food items to sustain a large section of the population whose means of livelihood have been affected by COVID-19 and the prevalent lockdown.

As a caring and responsive Bank, FCMB has ensured the stability of its robust digital channels thereby enabling customers to have full access to financial transactions and other services, while also helping the government, communities and individuals to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. In addition to this, the financial institution is equally supporting borrowing customers by providing payment moratoria during this period, to ensure they are able to survive and continue to pay their workers.

FCMB has continued to distinguish itself through innovation, and the delivery of exceptional offerings. The institution also firmly believes that the nation will emerge stronger and much more resilient at the end of the pandemic.

FLOUR MILLS OF NIGERIA

One of Nigeria’s biggest food businesses, the Flour Mills of Nigeria, is deploying N400m worth of food relief packages to vulnerable communities as part of its N2bn support in the fight against coronavirus in a country of nearly 200 million people.

Also, The agro-allied group is also providing $1.5m worth of medical supplies including testing kits, 331,000 pieces of PPEs, 75 ventilators, among others to help “Nigeria rapidly beef up the Nigerian COVID-19 testing capability,”.

Flour Mills of Nigeria has to date, contributed over N2bn in the fight against COVID-19. This contribution is made up of N1bn in cash as part of the Private sector Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID) and another N1bn in food relief materials and medical equipment,”

TECNO MOBILE

Just recently TECNO Foundation donated medical supplies worth millions of naira to the Nigerian Center For Disease Control (NCDC).

The material donation which was handed over to the Lagos office of the NCDC on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020 by officials of TECNO Foundation included 100,000 medical masks, 10,000 medical gloves, 1,000 Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) and 5,000 goggles amongst others.

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 coronavirus cases continues to rise, these organizations, entrepreneurs, businesses, Individuals, and others I have failed to mention are pledging their support. While others are filling gaps that might otherwise have been left unfilled, you also as an individual can affect a change, by making donations as little as N2,000 to https://givefood.ng/ from the comfort of your home.

These brands and many more have really done so well during these times. Especially Tecno and FCMB. We are grateful

Many more organizations are also donating, like Dangote, UBA, and even foriegn aid. What battles me though is FCMB partnering with the initiative of providing upto 1 million meals for the vulnerable in the society, that's really impressive.