Facebook fights Ebola with help from friends

You may have noticed that since Nov. 6, your Facebook timeline now asks you to donate money to help the ­fight against Ebola. The Donate button allows users to contribute to any of the three non-profits that are actively working in areas heavily impacted by Ebola: the America Red Cross, Save The Children and the International Medical Corps. In a statement released Nov. 6, Facebook indicated that it wanted to use its global footprint to help fund the fight against Ebola, from the United States to West Africa. “We want to amplify these calls to action and help organizations raise awareness and connect directly with people around the world,” the social network said. “Over the next week, people on Facebook will see a message at the top of [their] News Feed with an option to donate to three different nonprofits doing important work on the ground in West Africa.” Facebook stated that communication is pivotal in the fight against Ebola but that many of the areas effected most have a lack of resources. Last month Mark Zuckerberg and his wife donated $25 million to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation to help put an end to the Ebola outbreak. This is not the first time Facebook have offered users the ability to donate. In 2013, Facebook added a Red Cross donation button to aid relief efforts in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan. The network also recently debuted Safety Check to let users notify their friends and loved ones they are safe in the event of some natural disaster like an earthquake. Zuckerberg shared several other initiatives Facebook has planned for addressing the Ebola problem in the following video: