Lyft's Donation To Help Migrants Will Make You Feel Good About Calling That Car
If you're dedicated to social justice and human rights, you'll definitely be impressed by Lyft's latest commitment to organizations that help advance rights and justice for impacted groups in the United States. Starting in July, the transportation company will begin donating thousands of dollars to support immigration groups across the country, all of which do different kinds of work to support immigrant populations in the United States. Lyft will donate $200,000 to immigrants rights, so go ahead and feel good about ordering your next ride.
Over the next six months starting July 1, Lyft will give $150,000 in ride credits to support various immigration groups across the country, per a press release. The list of groups Lyft will support includes: Minority Humanitarian Foundation, which provides a humanitarian response to the issues facing migrants and refugees; Deaf Latinos y Familias, a nonprofit that helps promote awareness of Latinx culture to deaf and hard of hearing children and adults; FWD.us, a bipartisan political organization that works on issues of immigration reform and criminal justice reform; National Immigration Forum, an immigration policy organization that advocates for the value of immigrants; PARS Equality Center, which works to help integrate Iranian-Americans into the fold of American society; Muslim Advocates, a civil rights organization that works to ensure American Muslims live free from discrimination; and The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) which promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services for immigrant families and refugees.
RAICES will also be part of Lyft's Round Up & Donate program which helps passengers opt in to donating a few dollars to a cause they care about by rounding up each fare. Throughout July, Lyft will match rider donations through Round Up & Donate and commit up to $50,000 to RAICES in support of their free and low-cost legal services for immigrant children, families, and refugees. Some other organizations Lyft has featured in its Round Up & Donate program include the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Black Girls Code.
Lyft is no stranger to supporting social causes. In July 2018, the rideshare company supported 50 immigration organizations nationwide to provide free rides for immigrants and refugees, which included grants for 45 general immigration rights organizations and grants for five organizations that worked directly to reunify families separated at the border. Back in January 2017, after Trump banned travel from predominantly Muslim countries, Lyft pledged to donate $1 million over the following four years to the ACLU in order to "defend our constitution" and "continue proving the power of community."
More recently, Lyft has also worked to build a safer and more inclusive platform for its trans and non-binary riders and drivers with an in-app feature that lets users add their pronouns and choose from a list including They/Them/Theirs, She/Her/Hers, and He/Him/His, as well as two options that say "My pronoun isn't listed" and "Prefer not to say."
While the options to update pronouns is great, Lyft takes it a step further for trans and nonbinary drivers wanting to change their name and gender on legal documents. In partnership with the National Center for Transgender Equality, Lyft is offering qualifying trans and non-binary drivers "multiple hours of one-on-one advising" from the National Center for Transgender Equality, as well as $200 in financial assistance to help folks cover name change fees.
Lyft's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity has helped people from underserved communities over the years. Now, the company's commitment to donate $200,000 to immigrants rights organizations is a crucial step for the company during a time when the rights of migrants and people seeking asylum are increasingly under attack.
