Home Sweet (Motor) Home
By Amelia Arvesen
With travel plans on hold this spring, summer, and possibly longer, the RV and pop-up shelter communities are working together to help keep people safe. Many companies and individual owners are lending their mobile vacation homes to workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. And because many people don’t have space outside their homes to park a 30-foot RV, some campgrounds—including KOAs and fairgrounds across the country—have reserved spots exclusively for health care staff to safely isolate from their families and stay safe while they travel.
Airstream and Jayco are among the manufacturers that are finding new and creative ways to be of service during the pandemic. Both have donated mobile homes to health care providers and other frontline workers, whether to use as safe havens and quarantine capsules, or to help medical facilities maintain social distance while providing extra virus-testing spaces.
“Like everyone, Airstream is looking for ways to do what we can to curb the spread of the coronavirus,” says Bob Wheeler, the company’s president and CEO. “One of the best defenses seems to be testing. These are local heroes, and we’re doing what we can to help those doing the testing stay warm and healthy.” Airstream made and donated several Nest travel trailers to workers in Shelby County and Jackson Center, Ohio—home of Airstream’s production facilities and corporate headquarters. Indiana-based Jayco contributed two toy haulers to local clinics to serve as additional space for pediatric immunizations and another toy hauler unit to a fire department.
According to the RV Industry Association, numerous dealerships are performing critical maintenance repairs to the additional rigs on the road, servicing mobile medical clinics already in the field, and selling products to federal, state, and local agencies. The Adventure Lodge in Boulder, Colorado, Do you think it’s worth adding that Adventure Lodge in Boulder is offering health care workers a 15% rental discount on its fleet of adventure vans.
Manufacturers have also pivoted production to make essential protective equipment. SylvanSport is making N95 masks, medical tents, face shields, and more at its manufacturing facility in Brevard, North Carolina. Airstream’s sewing department shifted its focus from curtains and cushions to masks and protective gowns for hospitals in its area. Winnebago provided masks to a medical center in Iowa. And Lance Camper in Lancaster, California, offered up its available supply of PPEs to its neighboring hospital.
“As a safety-conscious manufacturer, we had many of the needed PPE items on hand, and the Lance Leadership Team was eager to donate these critically needed resources,” says Matt Buckman, VP and general manager at Lance.
The greater camping community is also showing extreme generosity. RV and campervan owners have turned to Facebook groups like “RVs for MDs” as well as rental sites like Outdoorsy to share their mobile homes with medical workers in need. Through Outdoorsy, hundreds of owners have discounted their rentals for people on the front lines.
First, Outdoorsy worked with 30 private health care companies to build an accomodation program for nurses, doctors, and other first responders. Then, on May 15, it announced the “healthcare heroes” program, which gives road trips to health care workers who need time to recuperate and recharge after fighting the virus. Within the first 24 hours, Outdoorsy received 500 nominations for deserving workers and 200 vehicles were donated by individuals. Outdoorsy co-founder and CMO Jennifer Young says she has been overwhelmed by the stories. Plus, for all trips booked from now until June 30, Outdoorsy is matching with nights donated to first responders.
“In some industries or businesses, there’s just generally nicer, more giving people, and I think the campervan and RV communities are like that,” says Young. “This is why we started the company—to provide health benefits to people.”