LinkedIn Steps Up To Help Children In Need After Hurricane Sandy Devastation

Today, LinkedIn’s CEO Jeff Weiner tweeted out a link to a new initiative that his company is participating in. As I noted over the weekend, people really need to step up when it comes to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Things aren’t kosher on the East Coast, and we all need to help.

It’s nice to see a public company in the valley like LinkedIn step up like this.

Especially when the message itself is coming from the man at the top of the company:

When you visit the page, you’ll find this:

LinkedIn for Good is teaming with Covenant House to help kids displaced and severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Right now, your donation to Covenant House will be matched dollar for dollar (up to $50,000) by the leadership of LinkedIn so that you can double your impact.

Considering that LinkedIn is a social network made up of professionals, simply sharing this story on LinkedIn with the button above could actually make a difference. Either way, please do something.

It’s too early to wonder out loud whether this money will make enough of an impact, but if $100K can be raised for helping children, perhaps other companies will be inspired and do something on their own with their vast resources. As I noted this weekend, early estimates put recovery from Hurricane Sandy at $55 Billion. Lives have been lost, over 185 as of now, and families have been uprooted, and it’s an extremely rough situation.

In case you need it before making a donation, here’s more information about the Convenant House:

The Atlantic City Boardwalk, on and beneath, has been Covenant House’s first stop each night for 20 years to find the homeless kids seeking refuge. Due to the hurricane, Covenant House had to evacuate the kids to emergency shelter further inland. The kids were moved four times so far to keep them safe from the storm and the aftermath, now we want to bring them home to a safe, dry, nurturing space where they can continue to work to achieve their dreams. Join your peers in the LinkedIn community with a generous gift today to help make this happen.

There is more that other companies and people across the nation can do. Mark Cuban, tech guy and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks is stepping up too:

https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/264469945205796864

What more can we do? We’re open to everything. Get involved, help someone out and drop some ideas in the comments please.

UPDATE: LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman tells us that he will be matching the donation too, bringing it to a possible outside amount of $100K, or $200K total.

[Photo credit: Flickr]