The Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) has rolled out a major campaign designed to encourage the retail community to collaborate on fighting Ebola in Liberia.
#RetailFightsEbola was positioned to rally retailers, manufacturers and individuals to provide medical, hygienic and food supplies to Liberia. RetailROI hopes to raise more than $1 million in goods requested by partners and the Liberian Ministry of Health. In addition, the charitable foundation is aiming to raise more than $250,000 in financial contributions to provide immediate relief to the 3,400-plus children newly orphaned from the disease.
“The goods that Liberia has requested are readily available from nearly any supercenter, drug, clothing, or grocery store in the U.S.,” said Greg Buzek, Co-Founder and donor trustee at RetailROI. “We are asking retailers and manufacturers to donate products at their cost from overstocks or out-of-season goods. This is retail’s chance to make a difference in the lives of people that desperately need our help at the source of the outbreak and will be key to helping contain this epidemic.”
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Reported as one of the world’s poorest countries, Liberia has an annual national income of approximately $412 per person. The country also has been hit extremely hard by the Ebola outbreak, potentially seeing another 90,000 deaths and 171,000 infections by the end of 2014, according to research from the World Health Organization.
Several RetailROI partners, including More Than Me, have helped reduce the number of new Ebola cases by up to 90% by providing education and community outreach, and delivering basic supplies to those impacted by the disease.
To learn more about #RetailFightsEbola, watch this video or access an on-demand webinar discussing the official launch.
