It’s no doubt that the entire world is going through something that we have never experienced before. However throughout this uncertain time, it is important to note the influencers coming forward during this pandemic and using their platforms to find relief to those in need. At first, the aura of uncertainty quickly hugged us as a community but after a few days of quarantine life settling in with the content creation community, affirmative action resulted shortly after.
It wasn’t too far after that I saw fellow influencers and designers curating social efforts to help the victims of Covid-19. What stood out to me the most is the distance within all of these influencers which was from Paris to Los Angeles to New York. We are all dealing with the outcome of this pandemic, but as social issues arise everyday, I want to put focus on a few influencers utilizing their voice and following.
Magne Ndiaye
A post shared by magné (@magnendiaye) on Jun 2, 2020 at 3:11pm PDT
Essence: What specifically drove you to begin this charitable efforts to help Covid-19 victims?
Ndiaye: I am a model and creative from Dakar, Senegal mainly based in New York City. I wanted to start this project as a way to show love to the children of my country and implement a plan to give back to the people who deserve it most. Currently with the COVID-19 virus affecting millions of people around the world, Senegal has decided to shut down the majority of its school systems and businesses. With Senegal already being a country filled with low income families, this makes it much harder for children who want to be able to continue their education at home.”
What exactly is your project doing to help?
The goal for this project was to fundraise money using my platform to buy enough art supplies and help at least 150 kids. We were able to buy art supplies from local businesses, thus helping to pour money back into the Senegalese economy. Handmade toys were purchased from Alyfa Toys, which is a West African educational toy company in Dakar. Custom reusable tote bags were made by ATS events, who also donated a bottle of hand sanitizer per child. We partnered with the following children’s organizations in Dakar to help us distribute these kits to their students; Ker Imagination Afrika, Sunu Thiossane, Village S.O.S des Enfants, Empire des Enfants and Alpha Dia Fondation. Together we helped make this current situation a little bit easier for some kids and put a lot of smiles on faces.
Has this pandemic affected you in any way, if so, as a creative what have you done to overcome it?
I feel like it has definitely affected everyone in some way. No one was expecting this to happen, and a lot of people especially in my generation who feel so free and unstoppable all the time, realized how quickly things can change. I think the uncertainty of how long it will last and what the world will be like when it’s over makes everyone a little on edge. I used the time to work on the Art Relief Fund project and to reflect on what I will be doing in the future after this is all over. Having something to keep you busy is very important. I changed my eating habits and exercise habitjust so I can come out of this feeling my best. I have my days of course where I complain and feel down, but I just try to keep my mind and body healthy overall.
Cleopatra Lee
just right! I’ll be doing a live Boxing Cardio workout on @koral’s IG live Wednesday at 3:00PM(est), make sure you tune in! #CleopatrasArmy #KoralBabe —— Speaking of the A post shared by Cleopatra Lee 
(@thecleopatralee) on May 4, 2020 at 3:17pm PDT
Essence: What specifically drove you to begin this charitable efforts to help Covid-19 victims?
Lee: My friend Paul Bamba had this idea to complete a running challenge and he was looking for a way to figure out how to make it charitable. He decided he would run 72 miles in 72 hours, raising $72,000 and I came up with the execution plan. I also logged some miles as well). We knew we needed to work with a charity that donates 100% of proceeds so that we’d know exactly where the funds would go. We chose the RobinHood Foundation.
What exactly is your project doing to help?
Our project helped by inspiring people to get active while also helping those greatly affected by this deadly virus. You could’ve donated as little as 1 cent, it still meant something
Has this pandemic affected you in any way, if so, as a creative what have you done to overcome it?
This pandemic made me lose a few sources of income and and has forced me to hustle harder. My days seem busier now than they were before. I spend more time content creating and focusing on the digital aspect of things. I’ve even taken up graphic design and video editing.
Jarline Almonte
Goodmorning from me and my @fashionnova cozy set Fashionnovapartner 
A post shared by The ‘Hood Fairy 
じゃりん (@jarline) on Apr 29, 2020 at 7:11am PDT
Essence: What specifically drove you to begin this charitable efforts to help Covid-19 victims?
Almonte: What drove me to want to donate is the fact that I feel a desire to contribute something, whatever I could to any capacity. I don’t like to feel as if I’m just sitting there, not being of use. My debut single “Potion” was scheduled to be released and I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to use it as a driving force to allow me to help others. 100% of the money earned from those purchasing the single on iTunes are growing towards 2 different organizations — one to help women in quarantine who are in domestic abuse relationships seek haven and aid and the other to help fund the creation of new ventilators.
What exactly is your project doing to help?
All earnings from the single will be donated. The song a fun, female-empowering track. It’s about owning our bodies, knowing our worth, and recognizing who and who not to involve ourselves with. I want everyone to feel good during this time, and even party tracks can be healing if you think about it.
Has this pandemic affected you in any way, if so, as a creative what have you done to overcome it?
The pandemic has affected me in a few ways, definitely. I’m a very social person who enjoys traveling and flying for work. And although I’ve had upcoming jobs, video shoots and recording sessions canceled or postponed, I don’t feel like it’s the end of the world for me. It’s all for good reason. My main concern is the health and safety of everyone. This is causing us all to be very creative and learn to work together for the sake of public health. Work life has adjusted by having shoots and castings be done through zoom, and I’m learning to make demos in the comfort of my own home. I’m keeping myself occupied through creating content for brands on my instagram, learning Japanese, painting, and trying out photography. Through this experience I’ve learned to not take breathing fresh air, and being able to experience the outdoors for granted.
Tizita Balemlay
Yesterday i witnessed people protesting peacefully and still getting attacked by police, for their voice!! Shit is not OK!A post shared by Tizita Balemlay (@theplugsdaughterr) on May 31, 2020 at 4:15pm PDT
Essence: What specifically drove you to begin this charitable efforts to help Covid-19 victims?
Balemlay: As a small business we understand how this pandemic is effecting small businesses and how discouraging it can be to young entrepreneurs. We wanted to uplift the spirits of young business owners.
What exactly is your project doing to help?
PLUGGEDNYC is teaming up with Target Style, CVS & Pizza HUT to give away $10,000 to a small owned women company. We have chosen a women owned company because 36% of business are ran by women, which mean 64% is ran by men. Out of the 36% of companies ran by women 99.9% are SMALL OWNED business. We want to empower women like us during this time.
Has this pandemic affected you in any way, if so, as a creative what have you done to overcome it?
Our in-house factory PLUGGEDSTUDIO, has had to close during this pandemic due to the safety of our staff. This has made it hard to launch our new collection. We are still conducting small in-house shoots during this time to prepare for the launch of our new collection and our team has daily zoom meetings to stay on task.
Shannon and Shannade Clermont
STAY SIX FEET AWAY PERIOD 
@farrellfigure 
#clermonttwins
A post shared by Shannon and Shannade Clermont (@clermonttwins) on Mar 31, 2020 at 8:52pm PDT
Essence: What specifically drove you to begin this charitable efforts to help Covid-19 victims?
Clermont Twins: So currently we are pairing up with Reform, which is a nonprofit organization, to help change the US probation system and to keep the prison community safe from coronavirus. It’s our platform and any way we can to spread awareness is really important. There are inmates dying and they’re not getting the help which they need. Me and my sister started The Clermont Foundation a couple of years ago and we want to really spread awareness to everything that’s going on. When I was in jail, just being there, you feel helpless. Not much you can do while you’re there. It’s not like you have any control the outside world so I could only imagine just being exposed to the coronavirus and not being able to do anything. There’s inmates slowly dying. They’re not getting the treatment that they need. And it’s really scary. Our focus has always been mental health issues, but just what we have experienced this past year, I feel like it’s important to speak about what’s going on now.
What exactly is your project doing to help?
This petition, specifically, the purpose is to facilitate the population of non-confinement offenders to home confinement. Why not us? We all have to be home, right? So why not allow inmates to have not much time left on their sentence to go home. I think if we want to talk about keeping everyone safe, we need to keep everyone safe. Everyone has made mistakes in their life and we’re all living and growing from it. I think during this time, we shouldn’t judge people on things that they’ve done and figure out how to keep everyone alive. We are talking about people who are nonviolent offenders. It just wouldn’t feel right to have experienced this past year, and me coming out now, to not use our platform in any other way than using it for good. It just makes sense.
Has this pandemic affected you in any way, if so, as a creative what have you done to overcome it?
As far as the pandemic affecting us in any way, thankfully we’re able to work from home, so it hasn’t really changed much for us. But it has really allowed us to be creative and just use this time for self love. The most this pandemic has affected us is really being away from our family. I’m really more worried about our parents at the moment. We’ve been really just using this time to just plan out our next five years. Everything that we’ve wanted to do, we’re making it happen.
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