Corporations Ramp Up Support for COVID-19 Response Efforts (April 16-30, 2020)

As COVID-19 spreads globally and in the United States, corporations and their foundations are stepping up with funding to meet the needs of individuals and vulnerable populations impacted by the virus. The “quick-hit” roundup below captures some of the corporate activity in response to COVID-19 over the last two weeks. (In many cases, larger gifts have been covered separately as part of PND’s daily news feed.) Items are sorted in alpha order by company name.

For more coverage, check out PND’s COVID-19 page and Candid’s COVID-19 popup page.

Activision Blizzard, Kingston Technology, and donors including Richard Scudamore and Julia and George Argyros have donated more than $5 million to the Hoag Hospital Foundation in Newport Beach, California, in support of COVID-related clinical trials, additional protective equipment, and emerging areas of need.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has announced an initial donation of high-performance computing (HPC) systems valued at $15 million to research institutions working to accelerate medical research on COVID-19 and other diseases. The company also announced donations totaling more than $1 million to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Austin Community Foundation, and local organizations in Canada, India, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Aflac has announced donations totaling $5 million to organizations assisting healthcare workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Contributions include $2 million to the Global Center for Medical Innovation, which is using 3D printing to help address shortages of medical equipment such as ventilators and protective masks, and $3 million to Direct Relief, which is providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and essential medical supplies to health workers in all fifty states.

Albertsons in Boise, Idaho, has announced a $50 million commitment in support of hunger relief efforts in the District of Columbia and thirty-four states where it operates supermarkets. Through its Nourishing Neighbors Community Relief campaign, the company will work with local nonprofits to help keep food banks stocked and able to respond to increased demand, support school-based emergency meal distribution programs, and bolster meal and food distribution programs for seniors.

As part of its $4 million commitment in support of COVID-19 relief efforts in California, Anthem Blue Cross has announced grants totaling $200,000 to United Way and Feeding America. The funds will support food banks, shelters, and other resource centers that are helping individuals and families with basic needs

Direct Relief has announced a donation of three million surgical masks from AstraZeneca to U.S. health workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. Direct Relief will distribute most of the level 1 surgical masks to health facilities in areas with the most pressing need, with a portion to be directed to emergency management agencies in states where AstraZeneca has a significant presence.

The Blue Shield of California Foundation has announced grants totaling $6.8 million in support of efforts to address economic hardships caused by the spread of the virus, a spike in domestic violence, and the need for accurate, accessible virus-related information in multiple languages. Recipients include the Asian Pacific Fund ($100,000), the California Community Foundation ($500,000), Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees ($1 million), and the Women’s Foundation of California ($1.45 million).

Cargill is offering its headquarters’ cafeteria so that Minnesota Central Kitchen can expand its operations. The additional kitchen space will allow the nonprofit to provide employment to laid-off workers and four thousand meals a week to Minnesotans in need. The Cargill Foundation also has donated $1 million to add a distribution site in North Minneapolis with Appetite for Change and support the production of a hundred and twenty thousand meals across MCK sites.

Cisco is supporting #FirstRespondersFirst, an initiative of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA Foundation aimed at providing essential protective equipment, accommodations, child care, food, mental health support, and other resources to frontline healthcare workers, Thrive Global reports. To that end, Cisco is opening a childcare center on its San Jose headquarters campus to the children of first responders and is funding three additional centers in Cary, North Carolina; Dallas, Texas; and Birmingham, Alabama.

To support underserved individuals impacted by the public health emergency in New York State, the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation has announced $2 million in unrestricted grants to community-based organizations providing healthcare services to persons of all ages, regardless of their ability to pay, as well as food banks and other nonprofits that provide critical services to home-bound seniors.

Dow has announced grants totaling $500,000 from the Dow Company Foundation in support of community foundations and economic development corporations in Midland, Bay, Isabella, and Saginaw counties in Michigan. The funds will support the rapid deployment of resources to address critical needs arising from the public health emergency, including support for frontline workers, small businesses, and nonprofits providing food and care for children.

The Duke Energy Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $340,000 to South Carolina K-12 education programs focused on summer reading loss, STEM instruction, and experiential learning programs that have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Recipients include Children’s Museum of the Upstate ($20,000), Girl Scouts of South Carolina ($20,000), South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics ($18,000), and United Way of Pickens County ($25,000). The foundation also awarded a total of $80,000 in support of COVID-19 relief efforts in the greater Cincinnati area — grants of $5,000 each to six hospitals and $25,000 each to the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky.

St. Louis-based Edward Jones has announced commitments totaling $2.7 million in support of local, regional, and national efforts to address immediate needs in communities impacted by the coronavirus. Grant recipients include the American Red Cross, the St. Louis COVID-19 Regional Response Fund, and five local hospital systems.

Madison County Schools in Huntsville, Alabama, has announced a donation of $939,000 from Facebook to help provide every student in the district with an Internet-enabled device and Internet connectivity. The gift includes funding to install mobile WiFi on school buses and extend the range of WiFi access points at schools so students can connect to remote learning tools from more locations. Facebook opened a data center in Huntsville in 2018.

The Figgers Foundation, the charitable arm of African American-owned telecommunications firm Figgers Communications, is donating approximately seven hundred thousand units of personal protection equipment (PPE) — surgical masks, N95 masks, face shields, and hazmat protective coveralls — to hospitals and healthcare workers in coronavirus hotspots, including California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.

Americares, with support from the GE Foundation, which helped source masks from its supplier in China, has announced it will be distributing more than 1.4 million protective masks to health workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response in eleven states and Puerto Rico. The Medtronic Foundation and the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation also provided support for the purchase and distribution of the personal protective equipment.

Heinz has announced a $1 million commitment to help cover rent and operating costs for independently owned diners impacted by closures due to COVID-19. The company will award grants of $2,000 to five hundred eligible diners nominated by the public through May 31 at https://www.heinzfordiners.com.

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas has announced pledges totaling $1 million to its Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund from the Kimberly-Clark Foundation and former Kimberly-Clark executive chair Tom Falk and his wife, Karen. The contributions of $500,000 each from the foundation and the Falks, co-chairs of the United Way’s 2019-20 campaign, boosts to $6.3 million the total raised for the fund, which has awarded more than $2 million to date to nearly a hundred and fifty community-based organizations.

In partnership with Project N95, the KIND Foundation has announced a $1 million commitment to launch the Frontline Impact Project, a platform where healthcare organizations and other frontline responders can request help to meet their greatest needs. While Project N95 has focused on performing supply chain diligence and securing PPE for health workers, the new partnership will enable thousands of healthcare facilities in the Project N95 network to request donations in the areas of nourishment, lodging, and transportation.

The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation has announced the creation of a $10 million Emergency COVID-19 Response Fund to help families disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Since March, the foundation has pledged more than $6 million to Feeding America, No Kid Hungry, Meals on Wheels America, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation‘s COVID-19 Regional Response Fund, Sunshine Division‘s Emergency Food Box Program, Benefits Data Trust, and other nonprofits.

Liberty Mutual Insurance has announced an additional commitment of $10 million to frontline organizations in Boston treating COVID-19 patients and/or providing food and shelter to vulnerable individuals and populations, including low-income and homeless families. Initial grants of $1 million each were awarded to Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Boston Medical Center, and Pine Street Inn, while grants of $500,000 were awarded to Friends of Boston’s Homeless, St. Francis House, and the Greater Boston Food Bank. In March, Liberty Mutual announced grants totaling $5 million in support of four hundred and fifty nonprofit partners and the Boston Resiliency Fund.

The MetLife Foundation has announced grants totaling $1 million in support of COVID-19 relief efforts in New York City as part of a $25 million commitment in support of global efforts in response to the pandemic. Grants in this round were awarded to the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation ($200,000), the Children’s Health Fund ($150,000), Hot Bread Kitchen ($150,000), and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation ($500,000).

The Patient Safety Movement Foundation has announced a $5 million grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation, and Competition in Healthcare to expand its efforts to drive awareness and adoption of patient safety processes during the public health emergency.

The PGA of America has announced the launch of a Golf Emergency Relief Fund to provide short-term financial assistance to workers in the golf industry who are facing significant financial hardship as a result of COVID-19. The association has pledged $5 million and a matching fund for donations up to $2.5 million.

PPG and the PPG Foundation have announced grants totaling more than $1.5 million in support of community relief efforts and emerging recovery needs created by the public health crisis, in the Pittsburgh region and elsewhere. Grants include $520,000 in support of local organizations serving those most at risk in PPG communities across the globe; $375,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; $275,000 to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Emergency Action Fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation; and $150,000 to Feeding America.

The PSEG Foundation in Newark, New Jersey, has announced commitments totaling $2.5 million for COVID-19 relief efforts, including a $1 million donation to the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. In coming months, the foundation will award grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to regional nonprofits such as food banks and health and social services organizations working to support those impacted medically, socially, and/or economically by the coronavirus.

Publix has announced an initiative to purchase fresh produce and milk from Florida produce farmers and dairy farmers in the Southeast impacted by COVID-related closures and donate those products to Feeding America member food banks in communities where the company operates. Launched in response to numerous reports of farmers discarding produce and milk they can’t sell — mostly as a result of school, restaurant, and hotel closures — the initiative is expected to run for several weeks.

Sam’s Club has announced a $1 million donation to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in support of efforts to help small businesses impacted by the economic fallout from the spread of COVID-19. The donation will fund emergency grants of $10,000 awarded through the LISC Rapid Relief and Resiliency Fund, with priority given to small businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans, and other underserved populations.

The S&P Global Foundation has announced a second and final round of grants from its initial $2 million commitment in support of the global response to the pandemic, with a focus on addressing food security and healthcare needs in India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Grants also were awarded to Project HOPE, the New York State COVID-19 First Responders Fund, the New York City Police Foundation, and the New York City Fire Department Foundation. In addition, the S&P Global Foundation announced a new commitment of $2 million in support of small businesses; grantees include Accion International, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Save Small Business Fund, and MicroMentor.

The Siemens Foundation has announced grants totaling $1.5 million to community health centers in twelve U.S. cities struggling to provide affordable health care to the uninsured and medically underserved. Grant recipients include Chase Brexton Health Services (Baltimore), Daughters of Charity Services/Marillac Community Health Center (New Orleans), International Community Health Services (Seattle), Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Health Care (Washington, D.C.), Newark Community Health Centers (Newark), STRIDE Community Health Center (Denver), Watts Healthcare Corporation (Los Angeles), and Western Wayne Family Health Centers (Detroit).

Stanley Black & Decker has announced a commitment of more than $10 million to address impacts of the coronavirus. Financial commitments include $4 million to NGOs working on the front lines of the pandemic globally, $5 million for a COVID-19 employee emergency relief fund, and a doubling of its match for employee donations to the relief fund or a charity of their choice. The company also will purchase three million face masks as well as other PPE for healthcare workers and first responders in the communities where it operates.

The State Employee Credit Union and the SECU Foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina, have announced a $10 million commitment in support of COVID-19 relief efforts across the state. Contributions of $5 million each from SECU and its foundation will support nonprofits working to meet food, clothing, shelter, and financial assistance needs, as well as frontline medical providers working to help the most vulnerable North Carolinians during the public health emergency.

The United Health Foundation has announced a $5 million partnership with the AARP Foundation aimed at supporting low-income older Americans during the public health emergency. Part of UnitedHealth Group‘s $70 million commitment in support of COVID-19 relief and response efforts, the collaboration will address social isolation and food insecurity among seniors by connecting them with emergency food services and expanding AARP Foundation’s Connect2Affect platform, which is designed to reduce social isolation and promote greater connection among seniors.

The UnitedHealth Group has announced commitments totaling $10 million in support of frontline healthcare workers and efforts to develop convalescent plasma treatments for COVID-19. Commitments of $2 million each from the United Health Foundation to the CDC Foundation and Direct Relief and $1 million to the American Nurses Foundation will fund the purchase of PPE for community health centers and free and mobile clinics across the United States, as well as the creation of a virtual system designed to promote nurses’ mental well-being and resilience and recognize their contributions to the fight against the virus. The foundation also pledged $5 million for a federally sponsored program led by the Mayo Clinic aimed at coordinating efforts to collect plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 and distribute it to hospitalized patients with severe or life-threatening infections.

The United States Tennis Association has announced commitments totaling $50 million to support the U.S. tennis industry as it struggles with the economic fallout from the coronavirus. Assistance programs include the continuation of “grow the game” funding commitments of $35 million to community tennis programming in 2020 and 2021; more than $5 million to help facilities in need of financial support reopen; $2.5 million in membership grants; more than $5 million in grants and scholarships to grassroots tennis and education organizations supporting underserved communities through the National Junior Tennis and Learning network; and free online continuing professional development for facility owners and managers and tennis professionals.

The UPS Foundation has announced a commitment of $15 million in support of global COVID-19 relief and recovery efforts in the areas of health care, education, financial sustainability, and food security. An initial $1 million in funding will help provide immediate relief in the United States; grantees include Family Scholar House in Louisville, Kentucky; United Way of New York City; Ramsey Responds in Ramsey, New Jersey; and the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, Texas.

We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service — part of the WEC Energy Group — have announced commitments totaling $1 million in support of nonprofits working to address the spread of COVID-19 and its impacts. Grants will be awarded through the We Energies Foundation and WPS Foundation to hospitals, first responders, and food pantries.

And the National Institutes of Health and Foundation for the NIH have announced the launch of the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership. With input from both public and private stakeholders, the partnership will work to develop a framework for prioritizing COVID-19 vaccine and drug candidates, streamline clinical trials, coordinate regulatory processes, and leverage assets to accelerate the scientific response to the coronavirus. Government agency partners in the effort include the Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the