A total of $260,592 in grants have been awarded from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, pushing the total up to $2.3 million in the past eight weeks.
In its eighth round of weekly grants, the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund today awarded $260,592 to 19 nonprofit organizations providing services to communities throughout the state.
In this eighth and final round of weekly grants, 56 applicants requested $1.4 million from the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, which is housed at the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF).
The fund, which launched on March 18, has awarded $2.3 million to 94 Delaware nonprofits so far.
Based on the nature of the applications, initial grants focused largely on immediate community needs. In recent weeks, the grants have broadened to address a combination of immediate needs and broader community needs, including the arts, culture, the environment, workforce development, animal welfare and others.
The fund will accept additional grant applications on June 1 and June 15. The June grants will target nonprofit organizations – both large and small – playing key roles in various sectors, throughout the state.
While we cannot address the sustainability of every nonprofit organization, the goal of these grants is to strengthen the sustainability of the sectors traditionally upheld by nonprofits, including health and social services, education, the environment, workforce development, animal welfare, the arts, culture and others.
These grants target solvent nonprofit organizations with solid plans for long-term fiscal sustainability and strong leadership and management. The plans should be responsive to the changing environment for funding, as well as evolving community needs. Organizations with a history of serving underserved populations will be favored.
The application for June grants will be available next week at delcf.org/covid-grants
The council is actively raising money to be able to respond to community needs, said DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay.
The Longwood Foundation, which previously gave $1 million to the Strategic Response Fund, recently awarded a $500,000 grant, with the stipulation that the DCF must raise a matching $500,000 from the community by May 30.
To make a gift that qualifies for the match, give at delcf.org/covid19-fund or contact Joan Hoge-North, jhoge-north@delcf.org.
The fund, which is being directed by Philanthropy Delaware President Cynthia Pritchard, already includes gifts from the Longwood Foundation ($1.5 million), New Castle County ($500,000), Welfare Foundation ($200,000), CSC ($100,000), Crestlea Foundation ($100,000), Fund for Women ($100,000), Highmark ($100,000), Laffey-McHugh ($100,000), Discover ($75,000), DCF ($75,000), DuPont ($75,000), M&T ($50,000), JP Morgan Chase ($30,000), Bank of America ($25,000), TD Bank ($25,000), WSFS Bank ($25,000) and others. The DCF also has waived all administrative fees for this fund, so that 100 percent of the funds are going to organizations helping people in need.
The Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund is part of the Delaware COVID-19 Emergency Response Initiative, a nonprofit collaborative response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The DCF, DANA, PD and United Way of Delaware are partnering to coordinate charitable resources to maximize impact statewide during this crisis.
Delaware Does More fund releases nearly $1.1 million
Delaware Does More COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund (the Fund), managed by United Way of Delaware released $453,000 in community investments to help seven community-based organizations.in the wake of the COVID- 19 crisis.
Much of the funding has been directed to assist low-income and/or homeless individuals and families. To date, the Fund has released $1,084,750, inclusive of today’s announcement. The sixth round of funding is expected around June 4th. To date, the Delaware Does More Rapid Response Fund has assisted 73,200 Delawareans in 30,600 households and has funded 1,163,000 meals.
United Way of Delaware CEO Michelle A. Taylor said, “Now in our third month of addressing urgent human needs across Delaware in the wake of COVID-19, United Way’s Rapid Response Fund today made its single largest community investment yet, thanks in large part to an exceptionally generous gift from Barclays, which is now the single largest contributor to the fund. We are grateful to Barclays, and to all our donors, including each of our corporate partners and the hundreds of Delawareans who have stepped up in ways big and small.”
Taylor noted that, earlier the Rapid Response Fund received a $250,000 challenge grant from the Longwood Foundation, which the Foundation will pay in full at the end of August if the Fund is able to raise the same amount from other sources by that time.
Those wishing to support the challenge grant have three options:
- Online, go to: uwde.org/give4covid
- Text: derapid to 41444
- Send a check payable to: United Way of Delaware Rapid Response Fund, 625 N. Orange Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
Mountaire partners with Beebe
Mountaire Farms partnered with Beebe Healthcare in recent weeks to help fight Coronavirus on the Delmarva Peninsula.
The chicken company donated personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies to the hospital on two occasions. Beebe is testing all Mountaire employees this month for the virus.
This week, Mountaire is donating 30,000 pounds of chicken to hospital employees who have been on the front lines of fighting this virus.
Beebe employees will each receive a 10-pound bag of boneless chicken tenders as a thank you gift. The chicken distribution is part of an ongoing campaign the company began last month thanking health care workers.
Mountaire has donated more than half a million pounds of chicken to churches, food pantries, community groups, Boys and Girls Clubs, first responders, and health care workers.
Other health care facilities that received donations include Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, and Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford. Multiple long-term care facilities have also received donated chicken from Mountaire Farms.
“Beebe has been a great partner and we’re grateful for all their doing to help fight this virus,” said Phillip Plylar, president of Mountaire Farms. “To date, we’ve donated hundreds of thousands of pounds of chicken to those in our community who need it the most, and for our health care workers who are doing so much to help.”
Last week Beebe officials were on site at the company’s Millsboro plant testing employees. A second clinic was held over the weekend for employees outside of the plant. More testing is being scheduled for future dates for additional facilities.
In March, Beebe reached out to Mountaire Farms seeking PPE and the company provided extra gloves, masks, aprons and other supplies. In the last few weeks, they reached out again and more supplies were provided to the hospital.
“We’re committed to this community, and it just made sense to do what we could to help our health care partners. Our company has tried to be as proactive as possible to prevent the spread of this virus, and every state and federal agency that has visited our facilities (Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) has been very positive about all the steps we’ve taken on site to protect our workforce,” Plylar said. “Testing is just another step in that process to try and make sure even asymptomatic carriers of the virus stay home if they’re infected. We’re happy Beebe has been a willing partner to help us accomplish this goal.”
For more information, visit www.mountaire.com.
Face mask distribution in Wilmington
Wilmington’s COVID-19 Working Group, representing the Mayor and City Council as well as the community, plans to distribute 20,000 FREE reusable, washable face masks to lower-income City residents beginning tomorrow today at various locations around the city.
For details, follow this link:
