'Let us help you' online platform goes viral

"My father is in hospital and has run out of diapers. Please help him right now!"

"An 84-year-old woman living alone is insulin-deficient and needs medication urgently."

"My grandmother needs sleeping pills every night. Do you have any to spare?"

Such pleas for assistance continue to register on an anti-COVID-19 charity platform that has recently gone viral. Behind it is a community support network that transcends space and tries to help people by making use of the Internet.

On April 7, the platform, "Let Us Help You" (www.daohouer.com), was launched. It has since drawn much attention, with many having benefited from it.

The platform was created by a group of Shanghai-based Internet professionals. Its founder, Lin Tianyi, is an entrepreneur in his 30s. He was reputedly inspired by shared documents and the "leaders of group buying" in WeChat groups.

Ti Gong

Since Shanghai was locked down in late March, "leaders" who organize group buying have begun using shared files to document individual needs in neighborhoods. However, in addition to food, residents also encounter other difficulties that are generally not addressed in group buying, like medicine.

"I want to create a website that helps publish information that netizens have previously posted and allows people to express their needs to the website, to set up an information gathering platform," Lin explained.

He claimed that one advantage of centralizing information on the website over shared documents was that it could effectively avoid the problem of "information being changed at will" that could occur with the latter.

The platform team began with only three people, but it began to work in a matter of hours since they were all familiar with the technical aspects.

The website has simple design, with a top-level information bar divided into three sections: "Help," "Post Help," and "Contact Us."

On the "Help" page, assistance requests are listed chronologically, and they are denoted with different colors indicating the level of urgency. The page also displays information about each person's request, district of residence, and contact information.

If you require assistance, click "Post Help" and complete the page's required fields, which include the nature of help needed, address, contact person, and phone number. Then the information will be published on the platform.

daohouer.com

daohouer.com

Lin said he had not anticipated that the website's visitor numbers would be so high. They received more than 2,500 requests for assistance in the first week.

"At its peak, the site received hundreds of help requests per minute, and on an average day there are more than ten pages of help requests," Lin said. "I had no idea it would get such attention when we got started."

To ensure the system's security and smooth operation, team members have to subject it to regular maintenance and upgrade, of course, at their own expense.

According to Huang Wei, the platform's operations manager, the team consists of volunteers, including local college students, office workers, and some public-spirited individuals from outside Shanghai. They have been divided into different groups, with duties ranging from fact-checking, seeking solutions, and contacting those who could help.

However, in spite of the more than 200 volunteers they have now, the sheer volume of work is still monumental.

"I worked from 10am until late at night on my first day as a volunteer," said a volunteer surnamed Yun. "I made over 30 phone calls and assisted several elderly people living alone in obtaining groceries, diapers, and medicine. I was exhausted, but I wanted to contribute during this difficult time."

Aside from the hectic schedule, the team are overwhelmed by the kindness and understanding of those seeking assistance.

According to Lin, many people in need of help have added his WeChat account.

"One of them later told me that his needs could wait for two days and that we could prioritize those with urgent needs because he found that many people's conditions were worse than his," Lin said.

Ti Gong

At the same time, they were moved even more by the fact that Shanghai residents are willing to support with medicine and household goods.

"Some companies are sending their employees supply packages," Huang said. "And as far as I know, many people fill out contact information for those in need of assistance so that supplies would go directly to them."

Additionally, the team has proposed a different solution to those in need of medication, the most requested assistance on the platform.

According to Huang, the team now has a "transportation group," which consists of some of the staff who participate in the Shanghai security services. They use their time off to go to brick-and-mortar hospitals to collect medicines, which are then delivered to people in need.

The platform has also set up a connection with an Internet-based hospital platform. Patients can seek medical advice via the Internet hospital, upload previous visit vouchers, have their medicine prescribed, and then have the supply chain docked behind them to be handled by volunteers.

As the platform has assumed a more significant role, it has gradually provided services that exceeds Lin's initial conception.

A few days ago, the team received a call from Fudan University's counseling group, expressing an interest in assisting in matching counseling services.

"We may have been unable to provide psychological counseling in the past," Lin said. "However, thanks to the arrival of this counseling team, we can now provide it."

The team has also received requests for help from expats.

"Our staff also understands English, and we welcome expats to post their needs," he said.

Lin added the website is simple and should be easy to read through translation software.

As the platform's developer, Lin, and his team members have the same wish: they all want the platform to "go offline soon."

"That means the end of the epidemic," he said.