How To Support Your Local Community During Covid-19
It’s been a year since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s safe to say that many things have changed. Businesses are not working the way they used to, and people are not living the lives they are used to.
Altogether, we are going through one of the most challenging periods in history, which means it’s time to come together and help one another. Sometimes it might seem that we don’t have many ways to support our local communities, but it doesn’t have to be so!
Would you like to know how you can contribute right now? Let’s take a look at a couple of ways you can support your local community during Covid-19.
#1 Make Local Purchases
The best way to help local businesses is to shop locally whenever you can. Look for products made in your country/area and make sure to support local businesses, whether those are small family-run businesses or larger corporations.
By focusing on local purchases, you will allow more money to circulate in the area, thus helping your community stay afloat during these challenging times. Make sure to motivate others to shop locally as well.
#2 Order Out
If you don’t want to spend too much time outside (for obvious reasons), there are still ways for you to support your local community. Of these is to order out, that is, order takeout from your local restaurants. It’s safe to say that restaurants have been going through an extremely difficult period the entire previous year.
With lockdowns and social distancing rules in place, restaurants have become something completely off-putting. However, these businesses still need to make money to keep the workers paid regularly. The best way to support them is to order delivery whenever you can and thus keep the money flowing in your community.
#3 Support Businesses on Social Media
It is important to address that there are ways you can help support local businesses without spending any money. If you’re trying to stay on budget, here’s one way you can support local businesses – give them social media recognition.
Some free marketing won’t hurt no one. Simply sharing a post or a review of your favorite local business or a product that’s sold locally can make a huge difference. By doing this, you will help local businesses grow brand awareness and get new people to support them. Meanwhile, it only takes a couple of minutes, and it won’t cost you a penny! It’s a win-win situation for both sides.
#4 Send Cards
Another way to support businesses in your community is to purchase gift cards and send them out to friends and family members. Assuming that local businesses offer gift cards in your area, this would be a great way to help them out.
If you’re looking for birthday gifts or you just want to make someone’s day a bit better, getting them a gift card is a perfect way to go. Besides, you will be sending traffic to your local businesses, as well as putting some money into their registers.
#5 Join an Online Community Group
You might have noticed that many people created online community groups during lockdown to help support one another. These groups serve to keep the community together and get people to support one another during these difficult times.
The simplest way to help support your community is to join one of these groups and see if anyone in there needs help with anything. If you can be of service to someone today, you’ve done plenty for the whole community!
Beware of Cybersecurity Threats
There’s nothing better than the feeling of helping your local businesses and people in your area to overcome challenges during this period. Although we’ve mentioned only five out of many ways you can help your community, even the smallest things can make a big difference. Keep that in mind if you’re running out of ideas!
However, keep in mind that some of these steps will require you to use the internet – which comes with its own set of concerns.
If you want to stay in the clear and avoid potential security risks, use a VPN to protect your personal information and encrypt all incoming and outgoing traffic. What is a VPN? This cybersecurity tool will help you protect sensitive data and surf the web without worrying about third-parties spying on your browser activity.
