What Rapid, Large Scale Donation Looks Like

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that has altered the way we live, work and socialize. Federal and local authorities have urged—and in some cases, mandated—their citizens to self-quarantine or shelter-in-place, leading to closures of schools, businesses and public facilities. More pressing, hospitals are filling to capacity and in need of essential equipment to treat patients, and community organizations are experiencing new, emerging needs they never could have imagined.

As the gravity of the outbreak sinks in across the country, and business seems anything but usual, Capital One is making provisions for our customers, associates and communities—however possible. And, we’ve been inspired by companies both large and small who, in their own ways, have committed to stopping the spread of the disease, providing assistance to those who need it during this trying time, or a combination of both.

Stepping Up to Take Part in the Relief Effort

Over the last few weeks, in collaboration with our Workplace Solutions teams and food service providers, associates across geographic locations and lines of business have stepped up to take part in giving back to our communities, including long-standing community partners.

Not Your Average Food Truck

After implementing measures to achieve social distancing and allow associates to work from home on a mass scale, we were faced with an unusual challenge: what to do with the thousands of pounds of food on site across our campuses. And, as you may presume, our teams had to work quickly to decide the best course of action. 

At our Richmond, Virginia campus, Chef Bryan Kelly of Lifeworks Restaurant Groups said, “As an organization, we try to minimize any food waste during each step in the food production process. With unprecedented circumstances like we are currently facing, any opportunity for us to contribute is one we are happy to tackle.”

Chef Kelly and the Lifeworks team recommended donating the food in Richmond to the Henrico County School District, which has been facilitating food distribution sites to provide students with free "grab and go" breakfasts and lunches during the school division's closures. Some of the food also went to The Doorways, a partner of foodbank FeedMore. A total of 6,850 pounds of food was donated between these organizations in Richmond.

In McLean, Virginia, we worked with Restaurant Associates to donate $10,000 worth of fresh produce to Food Rescue US. In response to COVID-19, Food Rescue US launched community kitchens to prepare and deliver food to local social service agencies. When Food Rescue US informed Restaurant Associates that they only had one van available to pick up the food, Ed D’Alessandro, General Manager of our McLean campus cafe, personally drove the food to the collection site. 

In Wilmington, Delaware, Restaurant Associates donated $4,000 worth of food to homeless shelter Mother Mary of Hope, a partner of the Food Bank of Delaware.

According to Restaurant Associates, "Knowing that our local community is directly impacted by current circumstances, our teams in McLean and Wilmington, in partnership with Capital One, sprung into action to organize food donations to local organizations. Through our relationship with Capital One, we are grateful for this opportunity to care for our community while reducing food waste."

Across the Capital One footprint, determinations were made on a case-by-case basis about how to handle food donations. In some cases, sites had advance notice about closures and were able to adjust food orders accordingly. Many thanks to our associates and partners in Richmond, McLean and Wilmington for living the Capital One value of always “Doing the Right Thing” for our community in response to the pandemic.

We’ve Got the [Paper] Goods

In addition to food donations, Workplace Solutions identified a few other areas where Capital One could help. 

In Dallas, Texas, we donated ten cases of toilet paper and ten cases of paper towels to local homeless shelter The Samaritan Inn, along with 50 meals for the staff which will continue once a week for the foreseeable future.

Although the COVID-19 crisis continues to increase in severity and seriousness, it’s inspiring to see the many ways companies are giving what they can to those in need, leveraging their existing resources to make a difference, uniting together whenever possible to bring levity, relief and resources where they’re needed most.