(NewsNation) — People all across the world are doing their part to help with Ukrainian relief efforts, and that includes thousands of internet do-gooders.
From booking Airbnbs to help give Ukrainian hosts an income to what’s being bought on Amazon, the power of the internet is on full display as people find creative ways of getting money into the hands of the people who need it most.
“Just trying to find a way to help out a tiny way of the Ukraine situation so I rented a room on Airbnb and then let them know I wasn’t coming to use the room just to try and get some cash in their hands,” Colleen Tatum posted on Twitter.
Tatum’s gesture was not so tiny, as thousands of people renting Airbnbs in Ukraine with no intention of showing up in order to get money directly to families who need it.
Airbnb’s CEO shared this weekend that in 48 hours, more than 61,000 bookings had been made. This means almost $2 million went straight to hosts. The rental company waived all of its fees in a move of good faith.
The company has also offered free housing for up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Etsy is joining other tech companies offering support to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
The ecommerce giant canceled all balances owed to them by Ukrainian sellers in a move worth about $4 million.
Global buyers are ordering goods and crafts from Ukrainian sellers, not expecting deliveries.
Steven Pope is an Amazon expert and says he’s seen trends come and go before, but not like this.
“I’ve been an Amazon seller for more than 10 years. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s crazy to see the trend lines,” he said. “For perspective here we’re, talking hundreds of thousands of Ukraine flags being sold in less than seven days.”
Two weeks ago a Ukrainian flag wouldn’t have even been in the top 100,000 items on Amazon. Now they’re everywhere from Denver to Los Angeles, where rally goers are draped in them.
“I’ve seen fidget spinners. I’ve seen chess sets when Queen’s Gambit came out. But I’ve never seen a geopolitical event cause like an entire community of people, an entire society of people, quite frankly, just all rush on Amazon and buy flags,” Pope said.
Like with most trends, Pope thinks this one will probably run its course as the crisis hopefully comes to a resolution. But for right now, this is Amazon’s prime purchase.