Honouring our healthcare heroes who are
selflessly supporting Canadians by providing them with prepared
meals, essential groceries and hotel accommodations
TORONTO, June 1, 2020 /CNW/ - Healthcare workers are
leading the way to help keep our communities safe, as we continue
to battle COVID-19. Recognizing just how much the lives of our
critical frontline workers have been disrupted in the service of
others, RBC wants to say "thank you". The RBC Helping
Hand program is providing these essential workers with the
services and support they need to do their jobs, stay healthy and
care for their families.
In collaboration with local restaurants, food services companies
and hotels, RBC is delivering prepared meals and essential
groceries, and providing overnight hotel accommodations to hospital
workers in communities across Canada that have been among the hardest hit by
the pandemic.
"Communities across Canada are
trying to adjust to a new normal, and that includes our frontline
workers who are attempting to balance patient care with their
personal lives and their health," said Neil
McLaughlin, Group Head, Personal & Commercial Banking.
"As the weeks turn to months, we want our healthcare workers to
know that RBC is here to provide the support they need on and off
the job. We want to help them continue to focus on caring for their
patients and, by extension, our communities."
Nourishing the Frontlines
Access to healthy meals
after long shifts has been a key challenge for frontline healthcare
workers during this pandemic. In partnership with Oliver &
Bonacini Hospitality, Compass Group Canada and many local
restaurants, RBC is providing up to 20,000 meals and essential
groceries to hospital workers across Canada. They will receive
high quality prepared meals and healthy groceries at the end of
their day so they can take care of themselves and their
families.
"Canadians and businesses want to help, and we're bringing these
groups together to support our healthcare workers who are on the
frontlines every day fighting the pandemic. And while working
alongside local restaurants and hospitality industry employees to
help our frontline workers, we're all supporting the economy on the
road to recovery," added McLaughlin.
Home Away to Rest and Recharge
"We also know that at
the end of a long shift, getting rest and recharging while keeping
their own families safe can provide peace of mind to our valued
healthcare workers during these challenging times," McLaughlin
noted.
In recognition of healthcare workers and caregivers on the
frontlines battling COVID-19 in communities across Canada, and to say thank you and provide some
much needed relief, RBC and Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott
International's travel program, have collaborated to offer up to
5,000 free room nights at hotels near hospitals.
Supporting Mission Critical Research
The demand is
increasing for antibody tests that can reveal who may have been
exposed to COVID-19, and the ability to analyze and process these
tests in large numbers, will provide critical insights into the
changing levels of immunity within the general population. RBC
is supporting a team of researchers at Sinai Health and the
University of Toronto with funds to
back the early stages of developing an automated system to process
these tests on a massive scale. The goal is for this system to
ensure consistent specimen handling and quality control while
reducing the supplies and resources required for large scale
sampling. Being able to tell healthcare workers that they have
already been exposed and have antibodies could help bring
significant peace of mind to them and their families.
Support in the Community
RBC has donated funds to
support strategic preparedness and response with donations to the
World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. RBC
is also a founding partner of the Mental Health Fund, helping
support Kids Help Phone (Canada),
Crisis Text Line (United States),
Shout (UK) and Spunout.ie (Ireland) to provide mental well-being support
to young people.
About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with
a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading
performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring
our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients
thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest
in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified
business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional
experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 34 other countries. Learn
more at rbc.com.
We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives
through donations, community investments and employee volunteer
activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact.
SOURCE RBC