It wasn’t all bad
■■ Cavanaugh Bell is a very busy 7-year-old. The Maryland first-grader runs an anti-bullying nonprofit and has helped ship clean water to Flint, Mich. And when he heard about the coronavirus, he knew he had to act. Using his $600 savings, Cavanaugh went shopping with his mom and bought cartloads of hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and snacks. He divided the goods into 65 care packages and handed them out at his grandma’s senior living community—while wearing gloves and a mask. “I like giving back,” he explained. “That’s my passion.”
■■ Jonny Blue was beginning to lose his faith in humanity.
The 33-year-old physical therapist and avid surfer had seen reports of people across the country hoarding toilet paper amid the coronavirus pandemic, and was horrified that a close friend couldn’t find diapers and essential supplies for his kids at local stores. So one Saturday morning, Blue camped out at a busy intersection in Encinitas, Calif., with a sign reading “Share your toilet paper,” and created an impromptu TP exchange. Drivers with extra supplies tossed rolls to Blue, who then handed them off to those in need. “People are honking, smiling, laughing,” said Blue. “I just want to encourage everyone to be better.”
■■ When Bryan and Michael Morin took over their dad’s New Jersey pizzeria in 2017, he gave his sons an important piece of advice: Look after your employees. That’s just what the brothers did when all restaurants in the state were ordered to stop taking dine-in customers, to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Rather than lay off the 20 workers at Federico’s Pizza & Restaurant, the pair took out a $50,000 line of credit so they could keep writing paychecks for the next two months no matter what. The hardworking staff, Bryan explained, is what makes the business. “I definitely owe them a debt, even if it means I might go into debt.”