Some of United's employees in California are giving back to local communities by teaming up with the state government to conduct wellness telephone calls. The initiative was started earlier this month by the State of California.

"Stay Home. Save Lives. Check In."

This initiative was launched by Governor Gavin Newsom's Office of Emergency Services as a means to keep in touch with vulnerable Californians– especially those who are older. The goal of this initiative is to help older Californians combat social isolation.

United is partnering with Listos California to support the initiative. An initiative by California's governor, the organization works with the Office of Emergency Services to support efforts like this one.

SFO Airport
Neste will supply several US carriers with SAF out of San Francisco Airport. Photo: United Airlines

According to a press release, about 300 United employees in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose will be making wellness calls to older Californians. United indicates that this will be tens of thousands of calls per week. For citizens who are socially isolated, unable to leave their homes, these calls are meant to serve as a form of connection in the middle of a pandemic.

It seems as if customer service representatives are the ones who will be taking part in these phone calls based on the release. This would make sense as these employees are accustomed to talking to people on the phone and sorting out any issues.

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United's employees are performing wellness calls for vulnerable citizens. Photo: United Airlines

Other United initiatives

Alongside this, United has actively been involved in other partnerships designed to help communities in need. The airline is providing free roundtrip flights for medical volunteers to work on combating this crisis on the front lines in the Golden State. In the two weeks that this promotion has been active, over 100 medical volunteers have taken up United's offer and flown to areas in need of medical personnel.

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Mr. Cefolia has worked his way up in United. Photo: Getty Images

Other initiatives include the following:

  • Volunteering with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to distribute meals to people in need
  • Donating over 2,400 dental kits, earplugs, eyeshades, hygiene items, socks, and tissues to Samaritan House San Mateo, Larkin Street Youth Services, and United Service Organizations (USO)
  • Providing 300 amenity kits to frontline medical personnel in San Francisco
  • Donating 59 pounds of food from the United Club and Sodexo catering
  • Donating 2,000 pillows from economy class cabins to nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay-area
United club
Extra food from the United Club was donated to feed those in need. Photo: United Airlines

Overall

This initiative is a good way for United employees to put their skills to use in communicating with elderly and vulnerable Californians. With the Governor's stay-at-home order, social isolation can weigh heavily on elderly citizens who may not have the support systems in place to get through this crisis. This is precisely what the "Stay Home. Save Lives. Check In." initiative is designed to address. Now, these citizens can have a new helping hand in the middle of a crisis.

Airlines regularly get involved in community initiatives. This is especially true in hub cities. From San Francisco, United has built up a gateway to Asia-Pacific that other carriers have struggled to match. Now, with fewer people flying, United is distributing its resources, including its employees, to make an impact where they are needed the most.

What do you make of United's partnership with Listos California? Let us know in the comments