TikTok has teamed with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After-School All-Stars (ASAS) to provide struggling families with gift cards to buy necessities during coronavirus.
As part of the alliance, families in 60 cities across the US will receive food vouchers and gift cards to buy food and other essential items. TikTok has also donated $3m to allow ASAS to provide meal support for those in need.
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This comes as schools across the US are shutting their doors, posing a challenge for a significant number of parents.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, founder of ASAS, said: “During a crisis, improvisation is critical and everyone has to look at new ways to help the most vulnerable. I’m grateful to TikTok for their donation which allows us to shift our priorities so our team can safely deliver groceries and gift cards for groceries to the families we help.”
Highly impacted cities
ASAS will first distribute the food credits and gift cards to families in highly impacted cities. These include Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Seattle and, Washington DC.
Additionally, the organisation is working with grocery partners including Food Land, Giant, Kroger, Publix, Ralphs, Safeway, Target, and Walmart.
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By GlobalDataBen Paul, President and CEO of ASAS, said: “The communities we serve are already very vulnerable. In addition, this situation has further magnified the hardships many families face. It has had a profound impact on millions of people. I’m heartened by the tremendous generosity, collaboration and creativity that we’ve seen across communities and industries.”
“Help those in need”
The social media giant TikTok will also match up to $1m in employee donations to ASAS. The aim is to further the organisation’s ability to provide food to vulnerable people.
Vanessa Pappas, General Manager of TikTok US, said: “We are all operating in uncertain times, and it’s more important now than ever before for both our local and global communities to come together to help those in need.
“This pledge to ASAS will help more students get access to meals, safely provided to them, during this crisis. This alone won’t mitigate the impact of the current situation. However, we hope it can relieve worry for parents who are balancing social distancing mandates, work and caring for children.”
