Daily Archives: March 26, 2020

Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Target (TGT) The retailer joined the ranks of those withdrawing financial guidance, due to the uncertainty stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. Target said food and household goods sales are jumping, but profit may be squeezed by higher costs for staffing and cleaning stores.

Nike (NKE) Nike reported quarterly profit of 78 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate of 59 cents a share. Revenue also exceeded forecasts, and the athletic footwear and apparel maker said business has rebounded in China following the coronavirus outbreak.

Facebook (FB) Facebook said usage of its platforms has surged during the virus outbreak, but added that it is also seeing a weakening of its ad sales business.

Kraft Heinz (KHC) The food producer was upgraded to "overweight" from "neutral" at JPMorgan Chase, which said that packaged food companies with higher levels of debt will benefit from the virus-related surge in business.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Occidental Petroleum announced employee salary cuts of up to 30%, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. CEO Vicki Hollub will take an 81% pay cut. The oil producer is trying to conserve cash during a period of tumbling oil prices.

Boeing (BA) Boeing plans to restart 737 Max production by May, according to sources who spoke to CNBC. Several regulatory hurdles still remain, however, before the aircraft is ungrounded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Peloton Interactive (PTON) Peloton's largest investor Wellington Management sold 4 million shares worth about $100 million during the past week as the fitness equipment maker's stock jumped, according to regulatory filings. Wellington still holds 5.9 million shares.

Royal Caribbean (RCL) Royal Caribbean extended the suspension of its cruises through May 12, as coronavirus cases around the world surge. The cruise line had previously suspended voyages through the end of April.

Whirlpool (WHR) Whirlpool withdrew its 2020 guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak. The appliance maker is also cutting production in its US factories, due to supply chain disruptions.

Apple (AAPL) Apple was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Deutsche Bank, which said the recent decline has changed its opinion that the stock was "too rich" from a risk-reward standpoint.

Hershey (HSY) Hershey received a double upgrade at Piper Sandler to "overweight" from "underweight." Piper points to valuation, and expects the chocolate maker to benefit from strong consumer demand and retail traffic.

TJX (TJX) TJX was upgraded to "outperform" from "sector perform" at RBC Capital, based on the strength of the retailer's balance sheet.

Winnebago (WGO) The recreational vehicle maker reported quarterly earnings of 67 cents per share, matching estimates. Revenue beat Wall Street forecasts, however, and Winnebago said it is confident that the outdoor recreation industry will rebound in the future once the coronavirus outbreak is resolved.

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Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Target, Nike, Facebook, Apple, Peloton & more - CNBC

ATLANTA It's a fact that many couples have had to comes to terms with in recent weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic ... postponing their wedding ceremony.

That didn't stop one couple from exchanging vows ... virtually.

Athens native Jud Poole and his fiance Lindsay Ruth Schultz were supposed to be married in a month, but due to social distancing, they were going to have to cancel plans for the big day.

Instead -- they took their nuptials to Facebook Live!

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11Alive is focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. We want to keep you informed about the latest developments while ensuring that we deliver confirmed, factual information.

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Couple ties the knot during Facebook Live ceremony - 11Alive.com WXIA

The coronavirus outbreak and work-from-home order has forced tens of thousands of tech employees off the generous teats of their masters and into their own homes to fend for themselves. The luxe and free cafeterias of ultra-wealthy Bay Area companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Square, Twitter, Uber, and others stand empty and dark, their hungry employees now safe at home for the foreseeable future.

One might be tempted to mock, but hey: Adulting is hard enough without a pandemic. Techies arent the only ones suddenly trapped in their homes obsessing over meal plans. But theyre now experiencing the cafeteria-free world the rest of folks dwell in and gamely face the apocalypse were all simmering in, without their three free, always-certain, chef-prepared meals a day.

Or not facing it, as the case may be. Facebook was swift to pull its presence from conferences and by the first week of March had banned international travel and started restricting employees to work from home. The company sent home an estimated 45,000 employees on March 6, making its staff the first wave of remote workers to fumble through feeding themselves.

And they all ordered delivery. At the same time.

Today in unexpected mass work from home problems, product manager for Facebooks Oculus Browser Jacob Rossi tweeted. Facebooks VPN IP got banned from DoorDash because so many people were trying to order food from home while connected to the corporate network.

Yes, some people joked, FB employees have lost the ability to make lunch for themselves. And they probably arent wrong. (In some respects, it was a shining moment for DoorDashs security system, which apparently detected the onslaught as a denial-of-service attack and shut it down swiftly.) Indeed, data nerds are charting the current DoorDash, GrubHub, Uber Eats, and Postmates explosion. Its especially happening in San Francisco, according to a Thinknum data piece tracking delivery app use.

One arc of the trend is certainly ordering out. The other half is cooking like no ones watching, with a heavy dash of stir-crazy to make it entertainingly weird and cringey. More so, people are figuring out how to make those missing connections happen over food and drink even though were all forced to be apart.

Techies yanked from their employers campuses and quarantined at home doesnt always make for a pretty recipe, as it combines a whole lot of people who are very experienced with tech and the internet yet inexperienced at cooking and still, somehow, performative in their foodiness.

Take, for example, an extremely popular Twitter thread on totwaffles.

Totwaffles are special in that they are among the elite order of foods which sound almost, but not quite, like a colloquial anatomical vulgarism, explained totwaffle connoisseur Ada Powers. This alone may be nourishment in dark times.

The treat involves defrosting (but not cooking) a bag of tater tots, mashing them into a waffle iron (you are about to give your iron a higher purpose), and cooking them until you feel like theyre done. Powers then recommends topping totwaffles with a dubious concoction called SYRUPCHUP which is a warmed combination of maple syrup and ketchup.

Totwaffles, a meme as food if ever there was one, isnt the only thing uniting tech-savvy food adventurers in isolation. Last week, invitations for virtual Friday happy hours went out to and from for techies everywhere, mixing workers from Google, DocuSign, Wirecutter, and other companies. One engineer told Eater SF via email that the topic of food came up in a FaceTime happy hour, and people said they were making a point of ordering dinners from local restaurants that are now doing delivery to help support them, as well as using home cooking as a mental health-promoting activity.

Virtual happy hours are one thing, but how about social distancing bakes? Thats the plan from former Kickstarter, Y Combinator, and Creative Commons worker Fred Benenson. His first Social Distancing Bake, on March 13, featured delicious-looking sourdough focaccia; his second bake on March 15 teased us with some very sexy loaves; and Benensons entry for March 18 was Social Distancing Bake #3: MOAR FOCACCIA.

And yes, theres sourdough involved, which seems to be this crisiss number one baking trend. Suddenly, everyone has a starter, and Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are flooded with photos of loaves of varying levels of success.

Other tech workers are just trying to help colleagues not cook horrible things. Google Project Zero security researcher Maddie Stone reached out on Twitter to share recipes for those of us who dont cook so good, in case youre already getting tired of Trader Joes frozen meals. Stones tempting (and easy-looking) offerings included bacon beef chili from PaleOMG, chicken enchilada soup from The Defined Dish, and Instant Pot chicken tikka masala, among others.

Like other sectors, tech conferences have been canceled or postponed across the globe. A number of smaller hacking and security conferences have moved their conferences online, where people can virtually attend the scheduled trainings and talks which brings us to PancakesCon 2020: Quarantine. The conference didnt necessarily involve pancakes, but was rather formatted with the first half of each talk focused on infosec, and the second half on something you can do while stuck in the house many of which ended up spotlighting cooking topics.

In Sundays two-track @PancakesCon, around 1,500 people from hacking and security communities around the world learned the art of pickling from the PancakesCon talk PowerShell and Pickling. Other talks discussed making homemade White Russians (and network threat hunting) and social engineering plus a seminar on honey, with the final talk closing the festivities with Working in Austere Windows Environments and Turning Simple Ingredients into Delicious Curries.

While some Bay Area tech workers are certainly struggling to subsist off GrubHub and pasta, hunting and gathering all alone in the wilds of their kitchens, others are stepping in to remind us that were not actually alone and are sharing some pretty great recipes in the process. At the end of it all, we can always look back on this scary and very weird chapter in history as the crisis that gave birth to totwaffles.

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When Tech Cafeterias Close, the Internet Gets Weird With Food - Eater SF

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) It's been nearly one week since Hamilton County residents Matt and Jen Doudt have seen their daughter.

Emma, 21, a senior at Ball State University, was rushed to the ER at Riverview Health in Noblesville last Friday.

"She's been there without us the whole time," Matt said.

"As a mom, you can imagine how brutal that is," Jen said.

Emma's parents, desperately wanting to be with their daughter, knew they couldn't.

The coronavirus outbreak has essentially locked down hospitals and visitors are restricted. Doctors and nurses are having to care for patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

"It's not just coronavirus people that need the hospital. It's people like our daughter and other people that are really sick. Moms having babies and stuff. There has to be space in hospitals for the regular sick people and if we don't do our part to keep the coronavirus as small as possible, we're going to lose other people for other reasons," Matt said.

Doctors aren't quite sure what made Emma sick.

It all began after a family dinner Wednesday night. Her parents say later on, she began vomiting every 15 minutes for more than 12 hours. Both of her lungs were filled with fluid, something her mother says put a strain on her heart.

Twenty-four hours later, Emma was in the emergency room.

"Forty-five minutes after getting to the emergency room with a little bit of breathing problems, she was intubated and put to sleep," Matt said.

At first, doctors thought she had COVID-19. Then, they discovered a blood clot in her leg.

"Her kidneys were starting to shut down, so now it's her lungs, it's her heart, it's her kidneys. Everything was being affected," Jen said.

Doctors transferred her to St. Vincent Hospital. The goal was to put her on life support.

The Doudts turned to their faith and Facebook, asking the world to pray for Emma's healing.

Jen posted a photo of Emma on Facebook that's now gone viral, reaching people around the globe.

"It was this beautiful thing to watch the global church stand up, unified and fight together to go before the Lord and lift up our family," Jen said.

The Doudts are also worship and prayer pastors at The Well in Carmel.

"Our pastor at the time, he had this encounter, and he said 'trouble's coming and you're not prepared.' We took that as a cue. 'OK, Lord. What does it look like to get prepared?' The response was day and night worship," Jen said.

The Doudts started a Facebook group called Dwell Global, and hold live-streaming worship sessions from their home. They intend to do these for the duration of the quarantine. Since Monday morning, they've logged about 70 hours of worship.

"Worshipping every day and getting our hearts softened and prepared for whatever was coming, prepared us not only for this virus but it's also really given us peace about Emma being in the hospital," Matt said.

"Nothing is impossible with God," Jen said.

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Couple turns to faith - and Facebook - as restrictions separate them from hospitalized daughter - WTHR

A Facebook page linked to Cape Town-based digital marketing firm Fangate (*) created at least 33 Facebook groups between January and March 2020 that leveraged fears around the novel coronavirus to build their respective audiences, a DFRLab investigation has found. Fangates director subsequently used a separate but related entity called AppleBerry to exploit these fears and market non-medical face masks to the members of these groups.

Fangates for-profit venture had an unintended consequence: in commercialising coronavirus-related fears of group members to market its product, it also created a platform for the propagation of misinformation. The Facebook groups quickly became vectors for the spread of coronavirus mis- and dis-information after the administrator seemingly abandoned them to volunteer moderators.

Parallel to the spread of the coronavirus itself, related disinformation and factually misleading information has propagated in a similar manner, quickly jumping around the globe. The World Health Organisation (WHO) referred to the spread of this information epidemic as an infodemic a public health crisis that has the potential to cause serious harm.

In response to the DFRLab investigation, Facebook took action against the companies hosting the groups.

We removed these Pages and Groups for misleading people about their purpose and attempting to evade our prohibition on the sale of medical equipment, a Facebook company spokesperson said in a statement. We are grateful to the Atlantic Councils DFRLab for bringing this information to our attention.

DFRLab has asked the marketing companies owner for comment. which did not arrive by the agreed time.

Geographic transmission

The Facebook groups, which included Coronavirus Philippines, Coronavirus South Africa and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates, segmented themselves geographically, and targeted individuals located in Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and United States among others.

Considering that Fangate and AppleBerry are located in Cape Town, their interest in the spread of the coronavirus in foreign jurisdictions seems odd. But it is clear that AppleBerryMasks motivation is commercial: a marketing blurb uploaded to the page on February 12, 2020, stated that AppleBerry was created to satisfy a need for more fashionable and upbeat face masks. This in itself was strange, as the South African population does not generally wear face masks in public.

It also registered its AppleBerry.shop website on February 15, 2020, which sells face masks for between $15 and $25. The various Facebook groups created by Fangate and AppleBerry are listed under a separate page as AppleBerry communities. On March 11, AppleBerry posted veiled advertisements for its non-medical face mask on two of the South African coronavirus groups.

While similar advertisements were not posted on the international groups, this is likely because AppleBerry has not yet secured an international distributor, according to their website.

Despite claiming that the groups were not created for fear-mongering or advertising purposes, the AppleBerry page did both of these things in short succession in March 2020. On 10 March, AppleBerryMasks posted on the Coronavirus South Africa group, drawing hypothetical parallels between South Africa (which only had seven confirmed cases at that stage) and the 631 deaths in Italy at the time.

The sendoff, What are you doing today to protect yourself and your family? dovetails with a post it published on the group the following day, in which AppleBerry promoted an introductory offer on its nonmedical face mask to members of this group.

For only R179 (USD $10), concerned members of these coronavirus awareness groups could be the proud owner of a non-surgical face mask that AppleBerry claims may protect against the spread of germs in crowded environments. The AppleBerry website states that their face masks are not intended for any real medical intervention. Despite this, the stores news page contains links to articles exclusively about the coronavirus, increasing the suspicion they are using coronavirus fears to market unsuitable face masks.

Cotton face masks, like the ones made by AppleBerry, are not capable of filtering out airborne viruses like the novel coronavirus, and instead act as a barrier. A 2014 study even cautioned healthcare workers, who are most likely to come into contact with viruses, against using cotton masks due to the masks poor filtration capacity and moisture retention.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases, one of South Africas national public health institutes, has also warned that citizens who are not used to wearing face masks are likely to start touching their faces more regularly, which in turn could theoretically increase the likelihood of contracting the virus.

Carrier networks DFRLabs investigation identified two linked networks of Facebook groups. The first network was administered by the Fangate Facebook page, which had amassed more than 91,000 followers since it was created on July 22, 2013. The second network was mainly administered by AppleBerry. In stark contrast to FanGate, AppleBerrys Facebook page gained less than 300 page follows since its creation on February 9, 2020.

The larger of the two networks was administered by Fangate, and numbered around 100 private Facebook groups, such as unofficial pages for South African brands and football teams, as well as a large contingent of jobseeker groups. The overall impression was that Fangate was operating these groups as a means to gain access to their members for marketing purposes.

Nestled between these Fangate groups was a subset of 33 groups related to the coronavirus. Most of them were geographically segmented, with groups dedicated to the Philippines, Australia, Brazil, the US, and even individual counties within the United Kingdom. By contrast, the AppleBerry groups were thematically limited to the coronavirus.

The AppleBerryMasks page created a contingent of 25 groups focused specifically on South Africa, which resembled the groups in the FanGateZA network in many respects.

On March 11, 2020, the DFRLab compared the creation dates and designated administrator of these groups chronologically:

This analysis revealed that AppleBerry was the designated administrator for two groups that were created before its own existence: Coronavirus South Africa and Coronavirus Botswana. This means Fangate, the original creator of both groups, ceded page administration to AppleBerry after AppleBerry was created. Since then, several of the larger groups (including CoronaVirus U.S.A. and CoronaVirus Brazil) have also been transferred over to AppleBerry from Fangate.

This is important, as the transfer of the administrator function established a link between Fangate and AppleBerry. This analysis also revealed similarities in the naming conventions used by the pages. Pages created between February 9 and February 21, 2020, were administered by AppleBerry (the exception being Coronavirus Quezon City, which was created and administered by Fangate).

These groups were different from the first batch of groups, created by Fangate between January 24 and February 2, in that they were focused on individual towns and provinces within South Africa, as opposed to broader countries or regions.

This more granular geographical pattern was carried over once Fangate resumed creating groups on 21 February, at which point it created coronavirus-related groups focused on specific counties within the United Kingdom.

Symptomatically similar, The DFRLab investigation noted both networks featured similar artistic renditions of microbes as their cover pictures. A reverse image search of these pictures identified them as renders of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), available on Pinterest, and a stock image of the coronavirus available on Unsplash.

The FanGateZA and AppleBerryMasks groups shared mutual administrators, as seen on the membership pages for these groups. Similar wording was used in the about, description and page rules sections of the groups across both networks.

Many of the groups across both the Fangate and AppleBerry networks used an automated greeting system to welcome new members to their respective groups. These greeting posts would either be posted by the Fangate or AppleBerry pages directly, or by the administrators for the groups.

Although the bulk of the groups had either the Fangate or AppleBerry pages listed as administrators, two user profiles belonging to accounts named Trisha Karina and Chris da Silva featured frequently among the lists of administrators for the groups in both networks.

While the similarities in the presentation of both groups already pointed to a nebulous link between the Fangate and AppleBerry networks, a further investigation into these two profiles made the link evident.

Contra-indications

The first of these user profiles claimed to be a woman from Cape Town named Trisha Karina. A fan page for Trisha Karina, created in 2013, claims she originally hails from Stellenbosch, about 50km east of Cape Town, despite her profile indicating she is from Durban, about 1,600km further away.

The profile does not contain much by way of personal details, yet it shared many links to Fangates coronavirus groups, as well as events promoted on Fangates now-closed website. Trisha Karina is a staunch supporter of Fangate projects, and in September 2019 the profile posted favourable reviews to an employment-related page linked to Fangate.

Overall, the Trisha Karina profile appears inauthentic. The profile picture for the account is widely available online, as confirmed by a reverse image search using Google. There is no clear persona evident from the profile, and content it posts inevitably relates back to Fangate. Even an Instagram account associated with the profile only contained stock images of fitness models, and posts on the fan page contained similar content.

The Trisha Karina profile is also an administrator of several Facebook groups created by Fangate and one page associated with AppleBerry. Where the Trisha Karina profile is not an admin, the account has been added to the group as a regular member.

Attempts by the DFRLab to make contact with the Trisha Karina account went unanswered. The account has since been deleted or deactivated, shortly after reaching out for comment.

Typhoid Mary

The second profile used to administer these groups belonged to Chris da Silva. The profile itself was devoid of any telling information on the owners identity. One of the profile pictures seen on the account history could be traced to a community safety application called Neighbourly. The Terms of Service page on the Neighbourly web page provided the legal company name, N.brly (Pty) Ltd. Company records revealed that Neighbourlys sole director is an individual by the name of Chris da Silva.

The same Chris da Silva is also the director of several other companies. Fansgate (registered to the same business address as displayed on the Fangate page) was created in 2013, the same year the Fangate Facebook page was created.

Another of da Silvas companies called TrishaKR (bearing a remarkable resemblance to the name used for the Trisha Karina profile) was also registered on the same date as Fansgate.

AppleBerry does not appear in the list of companies registered by da Silva, but two phone numbers found on the AppleBerry and Fangate Facebook pages were linked to him using Truecaller. The first number was found in a series of marketing proposal documents on the Fangate Facebook page. The second number was found on the About section of AppleBerrys page. Truecaller indicated both phone numbers were registered to the same individual: Chris da Silva.

In addition, a WHOIS search of the appleberry.shop domain revealed that Da Silva was the individual who registered the AppleBerry website on 15 February.

While in isolation, each of these datapoints could be disregarded as mere coincidence, the confluence makes a compelling argument that Fangates director is behind both pages, as well as the Chris da Silva user profile.

All things in moderation

In terms of activity, the groups created by Fangate and AppleBerry positioned themselves as public interest groups: their respective about and information pages give the impression that they were intended to share updates on the spread of the virus, and keep communities safe through the sharing of this information.

Instead, the groups quickly became breeding grounds that proliferated conspiracy theories, misinformation and even disinformation surrounding the coronavirus. Group moderators, appointed by Fangate to keep the community in check, were themselves guilty of sharing links to websites that published dubious or debunked information.

In another instance, the very moderators meant to ensure a group did not spread false or misleading information were doing so themselves. Administrators on the CoronaVirus U.S.A. and the main CoronaVirus (COVID-19) Updates groups were seen posting links to Breitbart, ZeroHedge and Infowars.

Fangates modus operandi appears to be to create these groups, recruit several local volunteers as moderators and then leave the responsibility for managing group conversations with them.

This can be seen from posts made by the administrators requesting individuals to volunteer as moderators. After the moderators have been appointed though, the administrators seem to leave the building: posts from moderators expressed frustration at Fangates apparent inaccessibility.

This seems similar to what happened with an unrelated jobs group, also administered by Fangate. A user review posted to the Fangate page claimed the group was overrun with adult content and that no moderation was performed on the group at all.

Conclusion

Although the AppleBerry page claimed the local South African and international groups were created to connect communities, not for the purpose of fear-mongering or advertising, AppleBerry appears to be using the groups for the inverse purpose.

By marketing non-medical masks in the occupational safety and health services category on Facebook, drawing parallels between South Africa and Italy, and asking people to question how they will protect their family, the newly created company seems to be capitalising on the publics fear of Covid-19 to make a quick buck.

As a result, AppleBerry is adding fuel to the infodemic fire that makes the work of healthcare workers and those on the frontline of tackling the spread of the virus all the more difficult. DM

* The Facebook page is named Fangate, and the actual legal entity is Fansgate.

Jean le Roux and Tessa Knight are researchers at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab. Contact: twitter.com/dfrlab

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South Africa-based Facebook groups stoked Covid-19 disinformation to sell face masks - Daily Maverick

A High Court judge has urged representatives of Facebook and a billionaire businessman to try to resolve their differences over his application for information about those behind fake ads that appeared on the social media platform.

Wissam Al Mana, a UK-based Qatari national, has brought proceedings over adverts which he says wrongly and maliciously used his name and image, and were published on several occasions since May by persons unknown to him using the Facebook Ads Tool.

He says the adverts contain a fake news article, using sensational headings and featuring his name and image, which wrongly link him to a cryptocurrency auto-trading program called Bitcoin Trader, which he has nothing to do with.

While the ads were removed following complaints by Mr Al Manas representatives, he is concerned about possible publication of future fake ads containing his name and image.

Mr Al Mana wants to sue Facebook Ireland Ltd, the companys European headquarters; the parties behind the adverts and Facebook for defamation and malicious falsehood.

As part of his action, his lawyers want a court order, known as a Norwich Pharmacal order, requiring Facebook to disclose details that would allow them to identify the unknown persons that placed the ads for the purpose of his bringing proceedings against them.

He wants Facebook to provide information including their names and addresses, emails and phone numbers, details concerning the advertisers IP addresses, payment methods and billing address, and their business names.

When the application for that order was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds at the High Court on Wednesday, Anna Shanley BL, for Mr Al Mana, said the sides had been in discussions but an issue remained outstanding.

Counsel said there was some urgency to the application because any defamation case against those behind the fake ads must be brought within 12 months of first publication. That deadline is in May and the dispute may need to be heard and ruled on by the court, counsel said.

Cian Ferriter SC, for Facebook, said one net issue remains between the parties and there was some dispute over the urgency of the matter. In exceptional cases, the 12 month deadline can be extended to 24 months and the Covid-19 pandemic was certainly an exceptional ground to extend, counsel said.

His side was concerned about bringing two legal teams to court in the current climate, he added.

Ms Justice Reynolds urged the sides to continue their efforts to resolve their differences and adjourned the matter for a week. She was prepared to hear the application if the sides could not reach an agreement, she said.

Mr Al Mana is executive director of the AlMana Group, which consists of more than 50 companies involved in sectors including property, technology, media, entertainment, retail and the motor industry.

He married the pop star Janet Jackson, a sister of the late Michael Jackson, in 2012. They separated in 2017.

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Billionaire wants Facebook to reveal who placed fake ads about him - The Irish Times

A grassroots movement that began on Facebook has grown so rapidly over the last week that its already too big for its first platform and is moving to a dedicated web site.

Caremongering-Kamloops was a Facebook page on which locals could offer help to those who were struggling under the COVID-19 restrictions, anything from pet-walking services to delivery of food.

But the community response was so massive that it quickly became difficult to manage everything on the Facebook page.

Its now being handled online at kamloopscares.ca and people are being encouraged to sign up now if they might be able to help.

Were going to need lots of volunteers if this is going to happen, said Gisela Ruckert, one of the Facebook groups moderators who helped push for the move to a web-based platform.

Heres how it works:

People can go to the website and fill out a volunteer form that includes information on where they live and what types of services they might be able to provide.

Once enough volunteers are in place, the site will be opened for the people who need those services to sign up and request assistance.

They will be partnered up with those in their neighbourhoods able to help, hopefully making everyones trip through the pandemic a little easier.

The speed with which locals jumped on the opportunity to help their fellow citizens illustrates the generosity of those who call Kamloops home, Ruckert said.

Its absolutely just another demonstration of the amazing volunteer and community spirit that we have in our community, she said.

The group was started by AnnMarie Aase, who had seen similar programs popping up in other communities. The Facebook group quickly grew to more than 2500 members reaching out to help those in need.

Though assistance will be provided in person when necessary, there is an emphasis on services that can be provided at a distance, such as online classes that can keep people connected, while also learning and trying something new.

And for those who will be making deliveries and interacting with people, they are expected to follow safety protocols issued by health officials.

Thats really critical, Ruckert said. We dont want to spread it to vulnerable people.

She said it is important is to get people signed up, and signed up quickly, as the faster the database, can be filled, the faster the program can get rolling.

Please sign up now, Rickert said. Now is the time.

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Kamloops caremongering group outgrows its Facebook page - Kamloops This Week