Fashion Opens its Wallet for Coronavirus Charities
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Fashion companies opened their pockets Monday for coronavirus-related causes. Tiffany & Co. revealed $1 million in total donations, the VF Foundation will contribute an initial $1.5 million in aid, while the De Beers Group pledged $2.5 million toward helping African communities where its diamonds are mined.
The Tiffany & Co. Foundation divided its donation between global and local causes — giving $750,000 to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and making a $250,000 contribution to The New York Community Trust’s NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund. The latter organization aids social service and arts and culture organizations struggling in the pandemic’s fallout across New York City’s five boroughs.
Tiffany said it will also match all employee donations made to “qualified nonprofit organizations” that support COVID-19 response.
“During this global health crisis, we must all be responsive to the urgent needs of our global communities. We are proud to support organizations providing immediate relief for communities impacted by COVID-19, including our hometown of New York,” said Tiffany & Co. Foundation chairwoman and president Anisa Kamadoli Costa.
The VF Foundation is contributing $1.5 million to support local communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the private grant-making organization financed by VF Corp. The VF Foundation is partnering with VF Corp. and its portfolio of brands to initiate a two-for-one community match campaign up to an additional $500,000. All employees and consumers of Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Dickies and its other brands are invited to contribute.
The initial $1.5 million in support will go to the Colorado COVID-19 Relief Fund, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Foundation Emergency Response Fund and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Money raised through the community challenge grant will go to GlobalGiving, the grant-making partner of the VF Foundation.
As the pandemic continues, VF and the VF Foundation plans to consider other ways to support those in need and to explore opportunities to help with economic recovery over the long run.
In a statement issued Monday, VF Corp.’s chairman, president and chief executive officer Steve Rendle, said, “Helping others during times of need is a responsibility we all share, and this is especially true right now as our global community comes together to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.”
On Monday afternoon, the De Beers Group said it would donate a total $2.5 million in funds to COVID-19-related causes benefiting communities in Botswana and Namibia — countries that house the bulk of their diamond mining operations.
The company has established what it calls a community response plan, which identifies communities most affected by the virus through insight from local residents, community leaders and government officials. De Beers will provide assistance relating to the virus’ medical toll as well as communities’ “economic recovery phase.”
De Beers Group ceo Bruce Cleaver said in a statement: “With our contribution of $2.5 million, De Beers is supporting the unprecedented efforts of health-care professionals, community leaders and all those confronting COVID-19 in the countries and communities in which we live and work. We have refocused our business in our host communities to support the response to the pandemic and our priorities are clear: prepare communities for the crisis, support the emergency response and be a partner in economic recovery.”
He continued: “We have long-standing partnerships with the people of Botswana and Namibia spanning decades. The men and women of De Beers are proud to stand with them now in this moment of crisis and we will stand with them as their partners on the road to recovery and renewal.”
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