While the world has collectively come to blows with the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, the counter-response by both individuals and businesses to assist their fellow man have offered great relief. Among those corporations paving the way to help are—probably unsurprisingly—Labatt Brewing Company. Labatt Brewing Company donated truckloads of canned drinking water to be distributed along with take-away meals for the homeless.
Labatt has been notable for their services to Canada in times of need under their Labatt Disaster Relief Programme, established in 2012. Since then, they have donated canned water for first responders and the community in the wake of various emergency conditions, and recently so, considering the wildfires in Alberta in 2016 and the flooding along the Saint John River in New Brunswick and 2018, donating between 100,000 and 200,000 cans of water for each disaster, according to the need. So far, Labatt has exceeded that by donating 233,000 of the cans to the City of Toronto for Covid-19 relief alone, the company reported via Twitter on Sunday, April 26th.
The need for canned water at this time comes with the need for single use disposable drinking water to compliment the take-away meal services for the homeless by the City of Toronto. The cans help prevent the spread of the virus by limiting drinking from public water fountains. Toronto Mayor John Tory publicly responded to the donation saying, “The support of private partners like Labatt have helped our City in our non-stop efforts to respond to this emergency – to protect the health of residents and save lives.”
Labatt Brewing Company donated truckloads of canned drinking water, but their services haven’t stopped there. With the help of their sponsors and generous donations, Labatt helps in other ways, including providing more than 50,000 bottles of hand sanitizer for Food Bank Canada as an immediate response to the effects of the virus. In addition to providing much needed supplies, their outreach and employees make up a team of volunteers who distribute the units.
The encouragement to take away from this news is that there are unique responses in the state of emergency crises, various skills and available goods, and most importantly the people who are willing to lend a helping hand in times of need. Communities across the globe are suffering—some from COVID-19, but most from the actions of their governments—and there are those who provide relief out of mere kindness and empathy.