WORLDWIDE from USA
NEW YORK CITY IS HIRING OUT-OF-WORK TAXI DRIVERS TO DELIVER MEALS
The city of New York has a new programme paying idled cab drivers to deliver meals to those in need. The city created the Get- FoodNYC Food Delivery Pro- gramme to help New Yorkers who are food insecure or vulnerable by enlisting licensed commercial drivers to help drop off food to them. The Taxi and Limousine Commis- sion, or TLC, which is responsible for licensing and regulating taxis and other for-hire vehicles in NYC, is encouraging its drivers to sign up for the programme. With stay-at-home orders in place, cabbies have lost most of their business but by participating drivers can earn $15 per hour and get a chance to make money during these financially difficult times. Mayor Bill de Blasio said recently that more than 11,000 taxi and for- hire drivers have signed up. “What they’re doing is heroic,” de Blasio tweeted. “And it helps them earn a paycheck to put food on the table for their own families in the process.” The mayor said the city expects to provide 10 million free meals to New Yorkers in April alone and that number could grow to 15 million in May. “We’re serving them out of more than 400 school hubs. And for seniors and vulnerable New Yorkers, we’re delivering to their door,” he wrote. According to TLC, the drivers have helped deliver 6 million meals to New Yorkers so far. “This is a tremendous contribution you have made to our city in one of the most difficult times in recent history,” the commission tweeted. They shared photos of drivers wearing gloves and masks to protect themselves and others while making the deliveries.
rapturous applause from dozens of medics lined up just inside the entrance to the Ramon y Cajal health centre in Alcorcon. The driver, who appears to be moved to tears by the show of gratitude, was also handed test results showing he had not contracted Covid-19, according to El Pais. The Spanish taxi union shared footage to social media where it has been viewed more than four million times. Among those who shared it was the deputy mayor of Alcorcon city council, Jesus Santos Gimeno, who wrote: “In solidar- ity, we will get out of this.” Within the first few days of lockdown measures being introduced in Spain, the profits of taxi companies had already dropped by some 80 per cent, according to local media. Despite the drastic drop in income, the Professional Taxi Federation of Madrid estimates that drivers in the area had given out at least 75,000 free lifts during the first month of lockdown, taking patients from their homes to as many as 300 different health centres.
from Italy
TAXI DRIVER TAKES STRANDED STUDENT FROM ITALY TO SPAIN - FOR FREE!
from Spain
SPANISH DRIVER WHO TOOK PATIENTS TO HOSPITAL FOR FREE GETS STANDING OVATION
Health care workers have surprised a taxi driver with a standing ovation and an envelope of money to thank him for routinely ferry- ing coronavirus patients to receive medical treatment without charging them. The altruistic driver was lured to a health centre in Madrid under the impression that he was picking up a patient. He was greeted with
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A taxi driver drove an Italian student stranded in Spain to her home country - free of charge! Driver Kepa Amantegi, 22, drove Giada Collalto, who is also 22, from Bilbao, Spain all the way to Montebello, near Venice, Italy, covering over 1,500 km. Giada was stuck in Spain after her classes were moved online and both her Spanish room- mates left, leaving her stranded. She had been studying languages within the Erasmus European exchange programme, in Bilbao since 1 February and expected to attend uni- versity lectures until the end of June. According to a CNN report, Giada tried to get plane tickets home but was denied at the last minute, only to realise she had lost her apartment too. A friend told her about Kepa, who swiftly came to pick her up, hosted her in his family home, then drove her all the way to Italy the next day. Giada said: “We called the local authorities and, as incredible as it may seem, we got all the necessary authorisations. I was allowed as I was traveling back home and Kepa was able to take me because of his work as a taxi driver.” She said that he refused to take any money for his services. Her family was emotional when she finally got home and hosted Kepa for the night. They bid him farewell with a goody bag filled with wine, grappa and chocolates.
MAY 2020
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