Challenging times are made more challenging without the support of friends and family—and for COVID patients isolated in the hospital, visited only occasionally by doctors and nurses, the challenge is even greater still.

That's why grassroots nonprofit COVID Tech Connect (CTC) is asking tech manufacturers to donate WiFi-enabled devices for hospital patients to video chat with their loved ones while they undergo medical treatment. Their goal is to collect 20,000 donated devices.

On their website, CTC explain that hospitals are no longer admitting family members or friends due to heightened demand on services and the risks of spreading the disease.

CTC came about after Sara Rodell, CEO of technology logistics company Loop and Tie, heard that people in the New York Nurses Union where trying to organize donations of smart devices so that family members could stay in touch with their loved ones during the chaos of the COVID-19 outbreaks.

Rodell was so touched by the thought, she reached out to a team of female executives with decades of combined experience in logistics and technology solutions to help her makes sure the nurse's union got what they were looking for.

She also organized the infrastructure of her own company, headquartered over 1,000 miles away in Texas, to help receive donations, distribute orders of devices to hospitals, and manage the shipping and handling.

"We have over 3,000 devices committed and more conversations are underway to get us to that goal," Rodell told Good News Network. "We've received some great responses from partners willing to donate devices, including Microsoft, PCS Wireless and Presto with more announcements coming soon."

Despite how the CTC's GoFundMe campaign was launched only ten days ago, the grassroots movement has already raised over $100,000 dollars and is making a real difference in people's lives—which has actually included giving some individuals an opportunity that would have been beyond tragic if lost: the opportunity for patients and loved ones to share a final goodbye.

People looking to donate money or devices to COVID Tech Connect can visit their website for the relevant links.

This is just one of many positive stories and updates that are coming out of the COVID-19 news coverage this week. For more uplifting coverage on the outbreaks, click here.

–Photo by Andy Bullock, CC license

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