PANDEMIC OF LOVE- A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE NEEDY AND THE PRIVILEGED

Ph.D. Candidate in Economics

The Corona Virus pandemic has affected hundreds of countries around the globe resulting in increased poverty, starvation, and deprivation of minimum human necessities due to ongoing lockdowns and no income.

Despite this many people from several corners of the earth have taken the initiative to help those in need. Shelly Tygielski, a resident of Fort Lauderdale city in Florida. Initially decided on opening an online platform only for the local community. She named it “Pandemic of love”.

“As the pandemic started, I started to see the fear bubble up on my social media feeds and from friends,” Tygielski told CNN. “I wanted to turn from this environment of fear to an opportunity for us to create connection, community, and strengthen the bonds of love between us.”

Shelly estimated the population of the platform to be restricted only within the local meditation group and a few other known ones.

“I really just thought this would be a community thing for the South Florida community, for the person who comes to our meditation group on Sundays, and that’s it—and that would’ve been enough,” Shelly told WTVJ news. The grassroots movement went viral overnight and raised help for and from beyond the regions they targeted.

“I posted the original video and the two links to signup forms on my social media feed on March 14 and woke up the next morning and there were already 400 requests to get help and 500 to give help,” Shelly ecstatically said. WTVJ news as well.

Not only did she successfully grow widespread, but she also gained a lot of people’s trust. Everybody received authentic help and information. Shelly deduced that the majority of people seeking help want to stock up on food and supplies for the children. The average request is about $150 and it wasn’t impossible to provide anymore.

Love Organization Model

Initiators from countries like Mexico, Iceland, Chile, Australia, and many more e-mailed to open their helping platform under the “pandemic of love”. Tygielski shares her Pandemic of Love organization model with volunteers in other cities. These volunteers build teams to match applicants in their community and reach out to other communities when they need assistance. The process is simply to fill up a form online asking for donors. And also donors letting them know that they are here to help.

She stated in an interview with CNN; “Within the first 24 hours, I received an email offering to start a Pandemic of Love community for San Francisco. And within two to three days I got messages to create communities in Portugal and Barcelona. Now I get at least 20 emails a day from folks who want to create micro-communities from all over the world.”

Over time, the Pandemic of love has raised more than 15 million dollars and brought over 132,000 people in connection. Shelly hopes that this support and love will continue even after the pandemic is over. Because she believes that “love is infectious, love is a virus, and love is the cure”.

In conclusion, a social media speech from Shelly can be quoted; “On a personal level, it shows me that a person can make a difference. When you aggregate this act of kindness, you know viruses can be scary things, but the word ‘viral’ does not have to be negative. A lot of positive things can go viral like hope and faith and love. And love can be a cure.”

By: Nehla Zohaira, SAVED News International Correspondent, South Asia