Last week we talked about Project N95 which is connecting healthcare workers with critical personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shoe companies Crocs, Allbirds, and Clove are meeting the needs of medical workers by taking care of their footwear needs. They are donating free footwear to these workers who spend long hours on their feet.
Crocs is giving away a free pair of clogs to any healthcare worker who requests a pair on their website. The company is prepared to give away 10,000 shoes a day and will also send 100,000 pairs to healthcare institutions around the country.
Allbirds also started donating pairs of their Wool Runners, their best-known style, last week to healthcare workers that submitted requests via email. After donating 5,000 pairs, the company switched to a “buy one, give one” model. You can buy a pair online and the company will donate a pair to a medical worker.
Clove is a startup that designs shoes specifically for healthcare workers. They have started organizing shoe deliveries to hospitals in need such as Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia where they arrived to surprise employees with footwear. They have enough supplies to donate 200 pairs of shoes and more than 1,000 compression socks.
Healthcare workers are truly on the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak. They spend long hours on their feet as it is, and the outbreak is only adding to the physically demanding nature of the job. Not every company can alter production to create medical supplies, but this is a great example of companies stepping up to support medical workers in any way they can.
