Every day, the news seems worse and worse. I know it will soon get better, though, and hopefully we can all thrive from lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Caremongering” is a new term that is now being thrown around and it makes my heart soar. Above all, working as a community and helping others could be the silver lining. Here are 17 things you can do to help others through the Covid-19 pandemic. (Washing hands and staying at home is assumed).

1. Use technology for good. Check in with 5 people per day via text, skype, or phone. We may be staying at home but isolation doesn’t have to mean loneliness.
2. Many grocery stores are adopting an early hour to serve seniors and those who are immuno-compromised. Offer to drive them, shop for them or make a bit of extra food and set up a personal meal delivery for those in your community.
3. A friend started a Facebook group in one community and it is being used for information about how to help. Because libraries are closed, someone is co-ordinating getting books to seniors in need.
4. Do you have a skill? Offer Spanish classes online. Play the violing on TikTok. Share your gifts!
5. Encourage your kids to connect as well – one little girl is doing a daily craft session online to show people how to make art.
6. Give blood. The need is not paused and may be more required than ever. Go to blood.ca to book an appointment.

7. Encourage flash-mob style arts from your front porch. Unless Gary lives on your street.
8. Send friends photos of the little things – your grandmother’s teacup, a bug on the windowsill.
9. Look through old family recipes, make a few and share them with family members.
10. Stop hoarding. Even in Italy at the worst of the pandemic, shelves are still stocked. You are affecting others by being greedy.
11. Be sure to protect your own mental health during this time. Seek out resources like this one, and share feelings with friends and family.
12. On social media, use hashtags. Typically, posts in community Facebook groups are divided between two main topics – #iso and #offer. #iso posts are for people “in search of” help, whereas #offer posts are (as the name implies) for people offering help.
13. Keep paying people like your cleaning lady. Teach your kids how to properly clean, and if you still have a job and way of getting paid, spread it around as you normally would.
14. For a few minutes a day, click around on different blogs. Many content creators rely on ad revenue, and traffic has been decimated in the past two weeks. You could make a huge difference.
15. Check in with the local food banks so see what they need. One family who canceled a bat mitzva donated all of the food on trays to people quarantined or in need of support.
16. Have an old computer? Offer it to a senior who may not be able to connect with family otherwise.
17. Reach out to the doctors, nurses, grocery store clerks and delivery people to see how you can help them. And give them a big smile too.

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