Blue Cross Foundation awards more than $2.1M of COVID-19 disaster grants

U.S. one-hundred dollar currency banknotes pass through a money counting machine at a bank branch inside the FHB Commercial Bank Ltd, also known as FHB Kereskedelmi Bank Zrt, headquarters in Budapest, Hungary on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015. Hungary moved closer to regaining its investment grade status at Moody’s Investors Service after Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government helped reduce the country’s debt load and kept the budget deficit in check. Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images

by: WGNO Web Desk

Posted: Apr 21, 2020 / 04:13 PM AST

Updated: Apr 21, 2020 / 04:13 PM AST

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BATON ROUGE – Since mid-March, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation has made more than $2.1 million in grant awards to 45 nonprofits across the state who are working to meet the needs of communities as they respond to COVID-19.

Efforts supported through Foundation grant funding include:

$826,000 for providing food to kids, financially insecure families and seniors
$160,000 to support healthcare needs, including securing critical supplies for providers, connecting individuals to care and mental health resources
$686,000 to provide support for direct economic support funds, housing assistance and keeping families financially stable
$420,000 for regional groups organizing disaster response in communities across Louisiana
$443,000 of additional support of non-profits through community relief funds operated by local community foundations

The Foundation’s board of directors has also authorized an additional $3 million in available grant funds to continue to meet community needs, bringing the organization’s overall commitment to $5 million statewide.

“We have seen such extraordinary creativity and tenacity in the people and organizations who are providing relief, which gives me hope for our state’s comeback,” said Foundation President Michael Tipton.

“These additional funds will allow us to work with more organizations to bridge the gap in needed services until we can all safely go back toward normal,” he added.

About Community Crisis and Disaster Response Grants

The Foundation has set up a grant fund of $5 million for nonprofits meeting the needs of Louisianians who have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The first $2 million has been awarded, but nonprofits are invited and encouraged to apply for the remaining grant fund. Qualifying work can include immediate needs like food, clothing, shelter, and meeting household expenses. Grants can also be used to meet more long-term needs such as ongoing patient education and care navigation, economic recovery efforts and more.

Community Crisis and Disaster Response are up to $50,000 and grants are made as general operating support – which means nonprofits can be flexible in their approach to solving problems for their communities.

The Foundation continues to process grant applications daily. The full request for proposals, as well as the application for the grant program are online at www.bcbslafoundation.org/disastergrants