We are all navigating the world differently as we care for each other and work to stop the spread of COVID-19. At the Stupski Foundation, we’re identifying ways to provide immediate support to people in our communities. We believe philanthropy has a powerful role to play in making sure everyone gets the essential health care, food, and economic assistance they need during these challenging times.
To meet these needs, Stupski is investing $1.5 million in local response funds across our communities in the Bay Area and Hawaiʻi. In the Bay Area, we have invested in local government response funds; and in Hawaiʻi, we are working with our trusted partners at the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation to direct resources to local municipalities. These initial, general-support investments will bolster urgent and critical efforts to create food assistance, COVID-19 testing centers, child care, and other necessary supports.
Why We’re Making This Initial Investment
As a foundation focused on food security, serious illness care, postsecondary success, and early brain development, we depend on our local health care, education, and government systems to deliver critical services to the communities we serve. Our local public health officials, health care providers, and school administrators are on the front lines of protecting the members of our communities who are experiencing the most severe financial and health impacts of COVID-19. For our local governments and first responders to provide critical services to our communities, they need immediate and significant resources from the field of philanthropy. That is why we made these initial investments so our local partners can respond to our community’s evolving needs.
“We must come together to support the people in our communities who are experiencing the most intense effects of this health crisis,” said Joyce Stupski, founder and chair of the board of the Stupski Foundation. “Now is the time for philanthropy to take swift, bold action.”
While these initial grants will help deliver immediate services to our communities, we know that these grants alone will not go far enough. We continue to monitor the needs across our communities. As public health officials have warned, we will feel the effects of this crisis long after we pass the peak of community transmission, so we commit to supporting our partners throughout the recovery period.
Role of Philanthropy
Philanthropy is uniquely poised to support local efforts. We join with other philanthropic organizations in providing general operating support to our local governments, community foundations, and nonprofit partners. Now is the time to contribute to rapid response efforts for our communities like San Francisco’s Give2SF fund, the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation, and the Hawaiʻi Resilience Fund. If you would like to learn more about how you can support these funds, please contact us.
We are encouraged to see our partners at MettaFund, Salesforce, the California Endowment, the San Francisco Foundation, the East Bay Community Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation quickly deploy rapid response funds to support our communities during this public health crisis. These organizations, and many more, continue to look for ways to combine efforts to meet our communities’ needs.
What We Will Do Next
As this situation develops around the world, we believe that we must stay connected and informed about all the ways that philanthropy can help today and in the months to come. For our grantees, we will share more information and resources soon to support you as you continue your essential work in unprecedented conditions. For funder partners, we will post updates on LinkedIn, Twitter and on our Blog about what we are learning and the next steps we will take to support our community partners. We look forward to working with all of you to keep our communities healthy, safe, and stable.