Lyft has announced they have teamed up with Demi Lovato and the Voto Latino Foundation, to provide ride credits to help get Hispanic communities, with potentially no other mode of transportation, to Covid -19 vaccination sites in Demi’s home state of Texas.
Lyft has mobilized partners and community members with a goal of providing access to 60 million rides for imperative vaccine access to and from their appointments. If individuals already have their own reliable transportation but would like to fund a ride for someone in need, one of Lyft’s nonprofit partners will connect them to it.
Co-Founding President and CEO of Voto Latino Foundation María Teresa Kumar said:
The Latinx community has been devastated by the COVID epidemic healthwise and economically. The best way for our community to rebound from this pandemic is to get vaccinated – quickly. To that end, Voto Latino Foundation is pleased to partner with Lyft and Demi Lovato to safely provide individuals rides to receive their vaccine. Our aim is to help bridge the gaps and inequities in vaccine distribution for Latinos in Texas. No one should forgo a shot because they don’t have a ride. This is absolutely crucial work.
Lyft Culture and Entertainment Marketing Executive Chloe Slobotkin added:
Access to reliable transportation represents a major barrier to care for millions of Americans across the country, especially for vulnerable communities. The strength of all of our partners, including multiple non-profits like Voto Latino, combined with our ability to address transportation barriers enables us to support equitable vaccine access to those who need it most.
This portion of Lyft’s universal Vaccine Access campaign is part of the company’s LyftUp initiative, a partnership of companies, community organizations and individuals working together to make sure everyone has access to affordable, reliable transportation to get where they need to go. Working together using Lyft’s transportation platform, companies and social impact organizations will help under-resourced communities access vaccination appointments by providing rides for those in need. In addition to directly funding rides, corporate partners will leverage their customers and member networks to promote individual contributions to the campaign as well as provide social media and marketing resources to connect people in need with community partners.