Twenty-one charities are doing more to deliver health services, food programs, learning resources, and emergency financial help, thanks to underwriting from the Bechtel COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Created at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the $3 million Fund is partnering with nonprofits to address urgent human needs in the company’s project and office communities.
“Our first round of gifts totaled $770,000 and went to 21 charities in 2 countries,” says LeeAnne Lang of Bechtel Group Foundation, which provided the funds for the special giving program. “By September, we’ll have distributed a second and final round of gifts in partnership with GlobalGiving, the first and largest crowdfunding community to connect nonprofits, companies, and donors worldwide.”
Positive impact
The $770,000 in first-round gifts from the Bechtel COVID-19 Relief Fund helped charities address the diverse needs created by the pandemic in the company’s office and project communities.
Improve health
- Testing blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies at the American Red Cross, Bluegrass Chapter in Kentucky
- Starting a nutrition program for 435 senior citizens at Pueblo Cooperative Care Center in Colorado
- Providing medical equipment and supplies to UNICEF USA for the COVID-19 response in Egypt
Fight hunger
- Feeding 400 families for a year at God’s Outreach Madison County Food Bank in Kentucky
- Underwriting 182,000 meals at Golden Harvest Food Bank, which serves 25 counties in Georgia and South Carolina counties.
- Partnering with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Mahoning Valley to buy a commercial cooler for the food pantry in Wellsville, Ohio
- Adding 120,000 meals to the capacity of the Southeast Texas Food Bank
- Helping St. Mary’s Food Bank provide food programs to nine Arizona counties
- Keeping The Center of Compassion food pantry operating in Dover Plains, New York
Promote learning
- Partnering with Fred Rogers Productions on exhibits and distance-learning materials at Children’s Museum Houston
- Providing equipment and training to enhance remote learning at the Sabine Pass Education Foundation in Texas
Support families
- Helping the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley fund youth activities, recreational programs, and public safety improvements in Belmont County, Ohio
- Investing in the Neighbor to Neighbor Disaster Relief Fund at East Tennessee Foundation
- Improving health, education, and financial stability through partnerships with United Way organizations across the United States, including:
- United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties in eastern Washington
- United Way of Beaver County in Pennsylvania
- United Way of Central Savannah River Area in Georgia and South Carolina
- United Way of Highway 55 in Tennessee
- United Way of Pueblo County in Colorado
- United Way of Southwest Louisiana, which serves five of the state’s parishes
- United Way of the Bluegrass in Kentucky
- Valley of the Sun United Way in Arizona
