LONDON, ONT. -- It’s called the Atrium Project and it's a website that was launched this week by a group of London entrepreneurs wanting to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These are very uncertain times so if there is anything we can do as a community to make this process any easier for each, other that’s what we need to be doing now absolutely,” says co-founder of The Atrium Project, Ryan Kelly.
Kelly says he got the idea after observing members of his own family volunteering to help others in recent weeks.
“I was watching my mom for example supporting family members and others in the community. She was making calls before she would go grocery shopping and say, 'Is there anything you need? Anything I can pick up for you?'”
With a background in working on tech solutions, Kelly quickly put together a nine-person team to get the website up and running. The platform matches up volunteers with people who need help getting essential supplies to their homes.
“We wanted something that’s could eventually be as easy as a text base so the least friction possible from someone needing help and someone getting it,” says co-founder Garrett Vanderwyst.
Safety is key for the volunteers and those they are helping, which is why the team is also working on proper safety protocols.
"We are talking with people in the medical community in building a robust PPE program for proper PPE and a proper workflow to how to safely get supplies to people who need them,” says Vanderwyst.
The Atrium Project already has around 30 registered volunteers. Kelly hopes that the initiative eventually takes off on a national scale and that this community outreach project can extend well beyond COVID-19.
