Kindness knows no bounds. In today’s #FourForApril we explore exactly that sentiment. From the thousands joining together to help health workers and the elderly in Australia to a landlord who cancelled rent for his hundreds of tenants, deeds like these show kindness and hope will prevail above anything else 💚
London’s newest hospital to help in the fight against coronavirus was constructed in just nine days
The first of the UK’s emergency field hospitals to treat coronavirus patients opened in east London’s ExCel centre yesterday.
Through the hard work of a vast range of people across different sectors, the site, which used to be used for events such as MCM Comic-Con, was completed in just nine days.
The temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital is able to hold as many as 4,000 patients, with many other facilities planned to be constructed across the UK to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can read more about its remarkable construction here.
Volunteer army of thousands of Australians offer help to healthcare workers and the elderly
A Facebook group launched last month by a Perth man who wanted to support healthcare workers who were going to be “worked to exhaustion” by COVID-19, has been overwhelmed with support.
The ‘Adopt a Healthcare Worker Victoria’ Facebook group was launched on March 14 by Chris Nicholas, and has since reached over 22,000 members.
Thousands of members have made themselves available to assist nurses, doctors and others under strain from the coronavirus health crisis.
From offers of babysitting to free coffee and baking cakes for birthdays to essential shopping for workers who cannot make it to a store, the concept is nothing short of beautiful.
The support behind the group was so huge, that other ‘Adopt a Healthcare Worker’ groups have cropped up with a Queensland one now containing more than 19,000 members.
You can read more about this beautiful initiative here.
A Brooklyn landlord has cancelled rent for hundreds of tenants
The Brooklyn landlord, who has 18 apartment buildings has said he does not want his renters to worry about payments during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mario Salerno, the owner of the apartment buildings, who is likely to be missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars by cancelling rent, has made it clear that all he cares about is his tenants in a time like this.
Mario, who has around 200 to 300 tenants, told The New York Times: “My concern is everyone’s health. I told them just to look out for your neighbour and make sure that everyone has food on their table.”
When he is not waiving rent for his tenants in this current climate, Mario still works on people’s cars at his Auto Body Shop, he said: “I have a lot of doctors and nurses who need their cars serviced.”
You can read more about the selflessness of Mario here.
African migrants are getting healthy food to Italians
Barikama, a co-operative started in 2011 by a group of young Africans, is helping to get supplies to Italian families under lockdown.
Many of its founders took part in the Rosarno revolt, an uprising in 2010 in which hundreds of African fruit pickers whose labour was being exploited in Italy’s citrus groves rose up in support of a workmate seriously injured in a racist attack.
That rebellion brought attention to the conditions of immigrant workers in the Italian countryside.
Now, while people in their community are in lockdown, Barikama are out in the field and in its warehouse in Pigneto, packing delivery boxes of vegetables and dairy products to help feed increasing numbers of local households.
Each morning the young members of the Barikama co-operative meet at the warehouse to load the van and then divide their daily duties among field work, deliveries and taking food to local markets.
You can read more of Barikama’s amazing story here.
Bonus positive
Every day in April, we will be sharing four positive news stories in one post under the hashtag #FourForApril. Got any kindness stories? Send them in! We’d love the world to hear about these good deeds by good people 🙂
Thanks for reading one of our positive stories!
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