Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation Contributes $1.1 Million to Support Communities During Covid-19 Pandemic
Support includes $825,000 responsive grant program and contributions to local philanthropic collaborative funds
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. (April 29, 2020) – As needs continue to rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation remains committed to making a healthy difference in communities by being responsive and supportive in this unprecedented time.
To that end, the Blue Cross Foundation has granted more than $825,000 to community organizations through its COVID-19 rapid response fund. This is the latest effort of the Blue Cross Foundation to address community needs related to COVID-19. Earlier efforts include contributing $100,000 to both the Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund and the Headwaters Foundation for Justice’s Communities First Fund, $100,000 to the Coalition of Asian-American Leaders (CAAL) as part of their anti-racism campaign and $15,000 to both the Minneapolis American Indian Center and NorthPoint Health and Wellness for their emergency food shelf efforts.
“The COVID-19 crisis continues to have far-reaching impacts on the lives and health of all Minnesotans,” said Dr. Mark Steffen, chair of the Blue Cross Foundation and chief medical officer of Blue Cross. “Communities across our state lack access to food, child care and housing, and are experiencing economic insecurity and xenophobia. These issues obviously existed before this pandemic, but they are being exacerbated as a result of it. These latest grant funds continue to make resources available to support Minnesota communities and address their immediate needs during these uncertain times.”
Forty community organizations will receive grants through the rapid response fund, and funding will support things like child care for health care workers, emergency workers and other priority populations, emergency food shelf and food delivery for vulnerable people, support for people experiencing economic insecurity, anti-xenophobia and anti-bias efforts related to COVID-19 and homelessness or housing insecurity exacerbated by the crisis. A full list of grantees can be found here.
These new grants and recent philanthropic contributions expand the Blue Cross enterprise’s widespread efforts related to COVID-19, including the organization’s $750,000 commitment to Second Harvest Heartland’s relief program and its partnership with Allina Health to address the shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers.