Throughout the course of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we've all been told ad nauseam that one of our best and simplest defenses against contracting the virus is frequent, thorough hand-washing. But, imagine how much harder something so straightforward might prove to be if you lived in a place where even a humble bar of soap was difficult to come by.
The Clean the World Foundation, a non-profit leader in global health-which operates an education program called 'WASH' (water, sanitation, and hygiene) and hygiene-focused emergency relief initiatives-is helping to fight the spread of COVID-19, by providing vulnerable communities across the globe with such life-saving hygiene supplies.
To help it meet its goals, Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming have just donated an additional 350,000 bars of soap to the organization.
"Soap is not federally subsidized, so individuals and families, especially living in transitional housing or experiencing homelessness, rarely have access to soap and other hygiene supplies to keep them safe," said Sam Stephens, executive director of Clean the World Foundation. "We are incredibly thankful to Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming for their donation, which allows us to meet demands quickly."
Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming (which operates Hard Rock's Florida casinos) are already participants in Clean the World's Hospitality Recycling program. Through this innovative initiative, soap and bathroom amenities left behind by hotel guests are collected and sent to a Clean the World facility, where the leftover soap is ground, sanitized, melted and reprocessed into a brand-new bar, while plastic amenities bottles are either recycled or diverted to an energy-from-waste facility.
Since enrolling in 2018, Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming have redirected a combined 15,000 pounds of waste from landfills and provided nearly 33,000 bars of soap to those in need.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has effectively crippled the hospitality industry, the volume of soap coming in from its Hospitality Recycling program has decreased significantly, which is why Clean the World is looking to partners like Hard Rock to help meet its quota for distributing soap to COVID-19 relief organizations with the greatest need.
In response to COVID-19, Clean the World Foundation is supplying more than one-and-a-half million bars of soap across North America, with shipments having been sent to New York, Washington state, Louisiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Nevada, Florida and Mexico.
The foundation has made it a mission to send an additional three million bars of soap over the next 90 days to various areas of the world that are being hardest-hit by the virus.
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