Nonprofits and community organizations serving low to moderate income residents can apply for funds through Pinellas County’s portion of the federal CARES Act. The funds are designed to support public health and testing, feeding operations, emergency sheltering, housing and other services. The organizations must show a direct link between the Covid-19 crisis and their increase in services, as well as demonstrate their ability to meet specific public health objectives defined in the CARES Act. Funds are coming from the Community Development Block Grant Program-Coronavirus Response (CDBG-CV) and the Emergency Solution Grant-Coronavirus Response (ESG-CV) funds. Applications are due by 5 p.m., May 22. More information is here.
Hype Group is partnering with local breweries to raise money for the Fighting Chance Fund and help local businesses impacted by Covid-19. The St. Petersburg creative agency has created a customizable, St. Pete-centric beer label for the breweries and is offering the label free of charge to any brewery interested in collaborating with the agency on the fund-raising initiative. Hype Group will customize the label with specs to fit a beer bottle or can and will include the respective brewery’s logo. The brewery will then print the label, apply it to any beer of their choosing and a percentage of that beer’s sales will be donated to the Fighting Chance Fund. Each brewery can determine the percentage of sales its wants to contribute. Six breweries have confirmed participation: Avid Brew Company, St. Pete Brewing Company, Bayboro Brewing Co., If I Brewed the World, Dissent Craft Brewing Company and Grand Central Brewhouse.
The Bailey Family Foundation gave $350,000 to Tampa General Hospital to assist with needs surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Tampa General plans to use the funds for Covid-19 testing supplies, personal protective equipment, new technology and other needs. “Tampa is our home. It’s where we’ve chosen to raise families and start businesses. This gift is about trying to do our part to help protect the community we love,” says Kyle Bailey, president of the Bailey Family Foundation and founder of Replay Guitar Exchange. The mission of the Tampa-based Bailey Family Foundation is to enhance the availability of post-secondary education and to make grants to support our local community.
St. Petersburg brewer, 3 Daughters Brewing, was featured Tuesday on national talk show LIVE with Kelly & Ryan, where they were presented with a $5,000 check for their generosity toward the St. Petersburg community shown in last month's hand sanitizer giveaway. Instead of keeping the money, owners Robin and Mike Harting decided to match the $5,000 with their own dollars to purchase $10,000 of gift cards to local businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores and bars in increments of $50 and $100. 3 Daughters will give away those gift cards starting today via social media to local community members.
The City of St. Petersburg announced Thursday that local entrepreneur Daniels Ikajevs donated $25,000 to the Fighting Chance Fund. In a statement, Ikajevs expressed empathy for entrepreneurs and startups experiencing hardships due to Covid-19, and explained that he wanted to help preserve and grow the local startup community. “It’s not always easy to start and grow a business, you have to be strong and resilient, often not only for yourself, but for the many people who rely on you, be that your team, employees or your family," Ikajevs said. "Smaller businesses, with great ideas that generally expand their grassroots operations, in many ways become the job creators and future backbones of the local economy." “Daniels Ikajevs has a passion for entrepreneurship," said Mayor Rick Kriseman. "He recognizes the challenges facing our business community, especially those in the nascent stage of their operations. We recently expanded our criteria to include businesses that have been in operation for less than one year, and the contribution Daniels has made will help to ensure our funding of those businesses can continue. We are grateful for Daniels’ presence in our region and his interest in St. Pete’s success.” To see a full update about the Fighting Chance Fund, click here.
The Edwards Family Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Meals on Wheels for Kids program. The program was launched in March in response to Covid-19 school closures. The funding will allow the program to distribute at least 25,000 meals to children in St. Petersburg who are home and unable to access emergency feeding sites, said Caitlyn Peacock, executive director of Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger. "I hope others realize how crucial programs like Meals On Wheels for Kids are, to families during these pressing times. My goal is to bring in as many donations as we can, from my affiliated foundations and surrounding businesses that are able to do so," said Bill Edwards, CEO of the Edwards Family Foundation.
Suncoast Credit Union is donating $1 million to provide economic relief to those affected by Covid-19 in the communities the credit union serves. The donation is the first of its size during the credit union's 86-year history, a news release said. The credit union is donating the funds to 20 organizations that focus on healthcare, hunger and education. Several recipients will get $100,000 each, including Feeding Florida (statewide operation), Tampa General Hospital, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the city of Tampa's One Tampa Fund. Seniors in Service-Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Meals on Wheels of Tampa are in line for $50,000 each as is Feeding Tampa Bay. St. Petersburg College will get $25,000.
New York Life partnered with Cigna to launch, through their foundations, the Brave of Heart Fund. The fund will provide financial and emotional support to the families of healthcare workers and volunteers nationwide – including doctors, nurses, technicians, orderlies, cafeteria workers, custodians, and others – who lose their lives to COVID-19, a news release said. The fund is launching with initial contributions of $25 million each from the New York Life Foundation and Cigna Foundation. To further support the fund, the New York Life Foundation will also provide a dollar-for-dollar match on the first $25 million in individual donations received. Cigna (NYSE: CI) , a health insurance firm based in Bloomfield, Connecticut, has committed to provide behavioral and emotional health support to the families to help them cope with grief. Individuals and institutions that want to contribute can click here. New York Life is a mutual life insurance company headquartered in New York City and with an office in Tampa.
The Vinik Family Foundation has donated an additional $700,000 to Metropolitan Ministries. The latest donation follows an earlier $300,000 gift to the organizations, bringing the Foundation's total contribution to Metropolitan Ministries to $1 million. Metropolitan Ministries is a local nonprofit that provides services for poor and homeless families. "There is an immediate, crucial need to help families stay above water between now and the time we can reopen our businesses and bring back our employees. Metropolitan Ministries has been outstanding at helping meet the basic needs of our neighbors who are struggling through the Covid-19 response. We are incredibly thankful to the leadership and staff for their tireless efforts as Tampa Bay works to address this crisis," Jeff and Penny Vinik said in a statement. Jeff Vinik is owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Tampa Bay Rays will contribute to St. Petersburg's Fighting Chance Fund, an initiative by the city of St. Petersburg to help small businesses hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic. Mayor Rick Kriseman announced the Rays' donation during a Facebook Live appearance Monday afternoon with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. A spokesman for the mayor later confirmed the Rays would give $100,000. Other sports teams and owners have also contributed. The Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have donated $100,000, as has the Vinik Family Foundation, led by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and his wife, Penny. The Milkey Family Foundation also contributed $100,000. The city provided $6.8 million for the first phase of the fund and has been seeking private funding for a second phase. For information about who qualifies and how to donate click here.
Kate Tiedemann and Ellen Cotton, longtime supporters of University of South Florida, have given USF $50,000 to provide emergency financial support to students on the USF St. Petersburg campus facing hardships due to the coronavirus epidemic. The gift, made in response to the USF United Support Fund effort, will be administered through the Stay AFLOAT fund, which was created by the USF Foundation to help students with a short-term need that may prevent them from continuing their education without assistance, a news release said. Stay AFLOAT scholarships are open to full or part-time students at all academic levels and all majors on the St. Petersburg campus. Those interested in supporting the fund can make a monetary gift through the USF Foundation’s website. Students can apply for funds through the Office of Financial Aid. Tiedemann, a self-made entrepreneur, is the largest donor in USF St. Petersburg’s history; together, Tiedemann and Cotton, her spouse and a former small business owner, have contributed more than $15 million to the university.
The Tampa Bay Rays have detailed a series of actions the organization has taken to help the community fight the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Rays Baseball Foundation awarded grants to 13 community partners to support programming focused on the crisis, including hunger relief, health and wellness, shelter and youth programming. The Rays Community Fund Grant program separately awarded 24 grants to non-profits that are providing various kinds of community support. The Rays Baseball Foundation and Rowdies Soccer Fund are donating up to $250,000 to Feeding Tampa Bay. Those two groups, along with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, contributed $100,000 to the Relief Now, Rise Together Fund for residents and small businesses in Tampa. For more details on the groups funded and how to apply for assistance, click here.
