Reconstructed Living Labs (RLabs) has pledged to support 40,000 youth, and their families, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We knew this time would be particularly difficult for the youth and their families. Our recent survey completed by some of our members on Zlto showed that nearly 60% of respondents require support with food, finances, and access to masks during the lockdown. It is also clear that there are great concerns about members and their families’ abilities to financially survive post-Covid,” explained Marlon Parker Founder of RLabs.
RLabs uses Zlto, fully auditable blockchain-based solution to ensure that essential items such as groceries, electricity vouchers, airtime and data vouchers, are reaching the intended recipients, quickly and efficiently. The Cape Town-based non-profit organization recently launched a Covid-19 Relief Fund to scale the disbursement of vouchers to almost 10x the number of young adults currently served per week.
The Covid-19 Relief fund was boosted by donations from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and JP Morgan. The grants will contribute to, and enable the disbursement of, the Covid-19 Relief Fund and support RLabs and Zlto on their journey to achieving their substantial target.
Moreover, the RLabs team has also developed a new Covid-19 related platform of content and activities for users to complete to earn digital vouchers. “Our aim is to provide up to 40,000 young adults with access to vouchers through the Zlto app, so that these young adults can continue to buy necessary essential items to support an extended network of at least 200 000 family members, and their community during this time,” said Parker.
“In addition, we are also ensuring that they are connected to the Government Covid-19 portal to receive up to date and correct information, and access to facilities and services such as free Covid-19 Online Doctor Consultations, available to all South Africans,” concludes Parker.