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TD Bank has announced grants totaling $2.8 million in support of efforts to drive a faster, more equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in vulnerable communities across the United States.
Through the third annual TD Ready Challenge, the bank awarded grants to six U.S. nonprofits working to develop innovative solutions to inequities exacerbated by the pandemic in disproportionately impacted communities.
"The COVID-19 pandemic created a healthcare crisis that exposed social, economic, and racial inequities, and we know it continues to disproportionately impact vulnerable populations across the U.S.," said TD Bank president and CEO Greg Braca. "This year, we focused the TD Ready Challenge competition on organizations that provide innovative solutions to the communities where we live and work."
Join Deborah Cornavaca, Deputy Chief of Staff of Outreach to Governor Murphy for a general information session on the vaccine rollout in New Jersey, and to provide you with comprehensive updates and answer questions. The rollout is in constant motion, but Ms. Cornavaca and her team will provide the most up-to-date information, as well as hear your suggestions and thoughts.
The timely knowledge and resources shared during this briefing will be essential as foundations support nonprofit, community, and government partners in making sure all New Jerseyans are informed about the vaccine, how and where to get vaccinated, and where to go for questions or concerns. For additional information visit the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub.
Register today to learn about the state’s plan to get vaccines to New Jersey communities, and what role philanthropy can play in ongoing efforts.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers
TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, awarded 32 local organizations from Maine to Florida nearly $5 million through its 15th Annual Housing for Everyone grant competition. The Housing for Everyone program has awarded more than $32 million in grants to over 500 community organizations since 2005.
The 2020 competition focused on supporting organizations that provide direct rent relief and supportive services to individuals hit hardest by the pandemic. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of Housing for Everyone, the TD Charitable Foundation increased the total amount of grants to be awarded by 30%, from $3.75 million to $4.9 million. Grants ranging from $125,000 - $250,000 were awarded to organizations working to help COVID-impacted households remain in safe, affordable rental units.
"The economic instability created by the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges faced by many renters, a large percentage of whom have experienced job loss and lack healthcare insurance," said Paige Carlson-Heim, Director of the TD Charitable Foundation. "It's estimated that up to 34 million people who rent are at risk of losing their homes when eviction moratoriums and other renter protections expire. The TD Charitable Foundation is proud to support this year's Housing for Everyone grant recipients as they play a key role in helping to combat this statistic in their local communities."
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) today announced that it anticipates awarding $14 million in grants to 27 organizations through its Sustain & Serve NJ program. The NJEDA launched applications for Sustain & Serve NJ in late 2020 to support restaurants that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The NJEDA expects that the funding announced today will result in the purchase of 1.5 million meals from at least 160 New Jersey restaurants in at least 69 cities in 12 counties.
“New Jersey’s restaurants were hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the outpouring of interest in Sustain & Serve NJ underscores the community’s desire to help local restaurants and the neighborhoods they serve,” Governor Phil Murphy said. “The positive economic impact of this program for the restaurant industry, combined with the good it will do in the community, makes Sustain & Serve NJ a home run.”
Through Sustain & Serve NJ, the NJEDA anticipates providing $14 million in grant funding to entities throughout the Garden State to support expenses directly tied to bulk purchasing of meals from New Jersey-based restaurants. Each awardee will receive a grant of between $100,000 and $2 million to fund these purchases. The entities will then distribute the meals at no cost.
Valley Bank has donated approximately $1 million to nearly 100 New Jersey-based organizations supporting relief efforts for COVID-19.
Through its Community Pledge Certificate of Deposit program, the bank has donated $2,183,000 to 264 organizations across its footprint. In New Jersey, approximately $953,000 was distributed to 97 organizations.
In 2020, Valley Bank offered a new, innovative Community Pledge CD designed to give back to organizations in the community that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CD offered a market rate and Valley matched the interest with a direct donation to community organizations that were providing relief in support of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts held a public meeting on March 16, where nearly $750,000 was awarded to 50 New Jersey nonprofit organizations through a recovery program that will help the arts sector prepare for a full-scale recovery.
The COVID Critical Needs Program (CCN) is a single year grant program that provides support for COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) and safeguarding needs for arts nonprofits. The CCN Program will financially assist New Jersey organizations with their efforts to ensure their venues are compliant with all safety standards as they welcome the public back inside.
The grant recipients include American Repertory Ballet, Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus, Arts Council of Princeton, Asbury Park Music Foundation, Bergen Performing Arts Center, Cape May Stage, Eagle Theatre, Farmstead Arts, Frontline Arts, George Street Playhouse, GlassRoots, Grounds for Sculpture, Growing Stage - The Children's Theatre of NJ, Guttenberg Arts, Hopewell Valley Children’s Theatre, Hunterdon Art Museum, Institute of Music for Children, Jazz House Kids, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, Luna Stage Company, Mainstage Center for the Arts, Matheny Medical & Educational Center, Mayo Performing Arts Center, McCarter Theatre Center, Monmouth Arts, Monmouth Museum & Cultural Center, Montclair Art Museum, and Montclair Film.
"The arts and entertainment industry has been among the hardest hit by the COVID pandemic," said Secretary of State Tahesha Way. "And yet, over the past year, New Jersey’s arts community has adapted to continue reaching people throughout the state and across the globe at a time when the power of the arts has been needed most. I am proud to work closely with the Arts Council to help ensure our state’s arts organizations can reopen and welcome audiences in a safe environment."
Mayor Ras Baraka has announced a second round of funding through the city's Creative Catalyst Fund that will provide artists and art groups with flexible grant support during the coronavirus crisis and beyond.
In January 2020, Mayor Baraka announced a broad vision for the city's cultural sector that encourages equitable funding for the arts and the kind of investment that will help sustain the creative community and grassroots arts organizations. The Creative Catalyst Fund launched in April 2020, in the early part of the COVID-19 crisis that took an enormous financial toll on the creative sector.
"Newark has been a center for the arts throughout its history," said Mayor Baraka. "COVID-19 has severely impacted our arts community – creating economic loss for artists and galleries. It has also provided them with a new canvas of experiences to document creatively. It is both a moral and economic imperative for us to support our local arts community by helping them regain their footing and continue to curate and tell the stories of Newark and its people."
In celebration of its one-year anniversary, the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund announced Thursday $16 million in new grant funding to 139 nonprofits throughout the state.
The grants, inspired by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s recognition of NJPRF’s impact and her transformational $20 million gift, include $10 million in grants to nonprofit organizations doing exemplary pandemic relief work at the state and local level.
NJPRF also allocated an additional $6 million in direct cash assistance for more than 18,000 of the state’s most vulnerable individuals and families, including higher education students, who will not benefit from government stimulus checks in the recently enacted American Rescue Plan.
The fund has now given $56 million in grants.
“Since the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund launched one year ago, we have worked every day to provide support to the millions of New Jerseyans struggling as a result of the pandemic and the crippling economic crisis left in its wake,” first lady Tammy Murphy, the founding chair of NJPRF, said.
“This round of grants goes directly to our nonprofits on the front lines delivering urgent aid to our most vulnerable residents.”
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, today announced a $1 million commitment over five years to UNICEF USA in support of UNICEF's work to uphold the rights of all children and help every child survive and thrive. The cash donation will be used to support UNICEF's efforts to eliminate Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) in at-risk countries around the world. In 1997, BD was the first U.S.-based corporation to establish a maternal and newborn tetanus program with UNICEF.
With the support of BD, UNICEF is working to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus worldwide by seeking to vaccinate all women and girls of childbearing age, by promoting clean childbirth delivery practices such as clean umbilical cord cutting methods and by utilizing surveillance to enhance health professionals' understanding of the circumstances under which tetanus can be transmitted. Between 2000 and 2018, newborn deaths from MNT have declined by 88 percent.1
As the first and longest-serving corporate partner in UNICEF USA's campaign to eliminate MNT, BD has now provided or committed more than $10.8 million in cash and product donations to the organization, including 55 million BD SoloShot™ Auto-Disable Syringes and BD Uniject™ Non-Reusable Devices.
"The initiative to help eliminate MNT was the first philanthropic program established by BD," said Tom Polen, CEO and president, BD. "Over the past 24 years, the MNT initiative has grown into an international public-private partnership that includes governments, global humanitarian organizations, non-profits and corporate partners, all with one mission to prevent unnecessary deaths from maternal and neonatal tetanus. This $1 million commitment continues our collective efforts to expand access to health care among the vulnerable populations who need it most and is part of our broader purpose – advancing the world of health."
The 2020 President’s Report is our annual look back at CNJG’s robust programming and services for our members and, by extension, the communities they serve. The Council is an engaged and cohesive network of grantmakers dedicated to our state’s communities and people.
Following a recent meeting of the Board of Directors, the F. M. Kirby Foundation announces 87 grants totaling $7.7 million were made in the first four months of 2021 to nonprofit organizations working to foster self-reliance and create strong, healthy communities throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, as well as national nonprofits largely based in Washington D.C. and New York City.
Early 2021 grantmaking includes grants in support of COVID-19 relief, as well as increased contributions to nonprofit organizations in the arts and humanities, education, environment, health and medicine, human services, public policy, and religion. As part of its Diversity and Justice Initiative, the Foundation has invested $1.8 million during the first four months of 2021 in support for current and new grantee partners led by people of color or directly serving communities of color. Most of these grants will provide general operating support, giving these organizations flexibility to meet immediate and shifting needs.
“The mission of this Foundation is to invest in opportunities that foster self-reliance or otherwise create strong, healthy communities,” stated Justin Kiczek, Executive Vice President. “Our grants within the Diversity and Justice Initiative reflect the belief that strong and healthy communities are inclusive and equitable. Over the past year, in the face of incredible challenges, our grantee partners have led the way in finding new and bold ways to create stronger communities. The first four months of 2021 provided us several opportunities to make extraordinarily impactful investments.”
The United Way of Greater Newark has awarded more than $800,000 in grant funding to 15 community-based organizations in Newark to create and launch neighborhood-based mobile vaccination clinics as well as neighborhood-based outreach and public information campaigns.
This effort is part of the Newark Equitable Vaccine Initiative, which is led by the United Way of Greater Newark and is focused on building a fully community-powered model for increasing access and equity in vaccine distribution in Black and brown communities. It is part of a national pilot program created by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Despite the rapidly increasing number of vaccinations available to eligible residents in New Jersey and nationally, the vaccination rates in Black and brown communities remain disproportionately low. Newark has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state among communities with more than 10,000 residents.
Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ), has awarded a fifth round of grants from its COVID-19 Response Fund. Sixteen grants totaling $155,000 were awarded to South Jersey nonprofits meeting the needs of communities in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem Counties. Over the past year, CFSJ has distributed more than $848,000 to more than 110 organizations negatively impacted by the pandemic and related economic downturn.
“This pandemic has created challenges for families across South Jersey, including food insecurity, housing instability, and a lack of childcare. These grants build on the Foundation’s efforts to help those on the front line provide access to these essential services and more,” said CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “We applaud the efforts of those who are working tirelessly to serve individuals and families.”
When Ras Baraka announced the formation of the NJ FAM Fund back in September, it came with a symbolic name — FAM stands for “40 Acres and a Mule” — and a hope that it could raise $100 million to serve as a private investment vehicle to help reduce social and economic disparities in Newark by investing in Black and Latinx businesses.
A few months later, the fund is operating in eight New Jersey cities and is quickly approaching $10 million — thanks in part to a “substantial” commitment from Bank of America that came this week.
Alberto Garofalo, president of Bank of America New Jersey, said the bank was thrilled to include the NJ FAM Fund among its many initiatives to help drive economic growth in underserved communities that too often were left behind in the past.
“A strong and vibrant business community benefits everyone,” Garafolo said. “Our equity investment in NJ FAM is intended to deploy capital to Black, Hispanic-Latino, other under-represented minority and women-led entrepreneurs so they can grow, expand job opportunities and make a positive impact in their community.”
M&T Bank has donated $75,000 in seed money to help the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers University launch a new fund to help Black entrepreneurs recover from the effects of the pandemic.
CUEED, based at the Rutgers Business School in Newark, will leverage the money from M&T to raise additional funding from other private and philanthropic sources. The center’s goal is to raise $250,000 to pilot its NJ BEST Patient Capital Fund, which will make low-cost, non-dilutive capital, recoverable grants of $25,000 to $50,000 available to selected Black-owned High-Impact Vital Enterprises — retail and service businesses essential to the viability of their communities.
Tom Comiskey, M&T Bank president for New Jersey, said the bank was excited to contribute to such a worthy aim.
“The pandemic has exacerbated challenges for Black entrepreneurs, making it increasingly difficult to secure capital for their businesses,” he said. “Essential to the foundation of New Jersey’s economy, M&T Bank is proud to support these business owners through the NJ BEST Patient Capital Fund.”
TD Bank has announced the launch of a $100 million equity fund to support minority-owned small businesses.
The fund will enable specialized small business investment companies (SSBICs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to provide small business loans and technical assistance that give businesses the capacity to scale and adapt long-term. The commitment includes $75 million of capital through an SSBIC initiative to be launched later this year and $25 million specifically earmarked for Black- and Latinx-owned small businesses, funded through CDFIs.
"The pandemic has highlighted the depth of disparities that exist in communities of color, especially as it relates to small businesses, which serve as the backbone of our economy," said TD Bank president and CEO Greg Braca. "The equity fund will ultimately infuse capital and help stabilize these small businesses. But it's also about contributing to job creation, stimulating economic development, revitalizing these vibrant communities, and, just as important, breaking the cycle of disinvestment [that] systemically prevents communities of color from thriving. Small businesses are the heart of our communities — especially communities of color — and it's up to us to help them succeed."
The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey announces the approval of $1,448,727 in new grants, bringing its total granting for 2021 to a total of over $7 million.
New funding includes an award of $153,475 to the Newark Community Street Team for the agency’s new Trauma Recovery Center. The grant continues HFNJ’s support of the Street Team and its recognition of violence prevention and violence-induced trauma as an important public health issue.
A third year of support, in the amount of $186, 877, went to Playworks, Inc. for its work building a healthy school climate for youth in Newark’s Public Schools. In addition, $99,000 went to Easter Seals of NJ for expanding physical and mental healthcare by providing counsellors and case workers with expertise in signing for deaf and hard-of-hearing populations in greater Essex County. A grant of $99,300 was awarded to the Kessler Foundation for the development of home-based stroke rehab protocols using virtual reality.
A total of $29,000 has been donated by Kearny Bank to the scholarship funds of 26 high schools, one local board of education, and two educational support organizations in nine New Jersey counties. The funds represent the latest contributions in a long-standing, annual scholarship program managed by the KearnyBank Foundation.
“We’re quite proud of our annual high school scholarship program, which highlights Kearny Bank’s deep commitment to supporting education throughout New Jersey,” says Kearny Bank President and CEO Craig Montanaro. “High school was anything but conventional for members of the class of 2021. We’re hoping our scholarship donations will play a part in enabling these students to have spectacular, post-pandemic collegiate experiences.”
In the second quarter of 2021, the Westfield Foundation distributed $68,544.00 in grants to 10 different agencies: CancerCare Inc., CASA of Union County, Caring Contact, Family Promise, Greater Somerset County YMCA, More Than Bootstraps, Our House Foundation, Patriots’ Path Council – Boy Scouts, Presbyterian Church - Agape Community Kitchen and the Westfield Service League.
These funds will be used for such items as face masks for summer day campers, supplemental groceries for families in need, replacement of inoperable windows, training for family advocates re substance abuse and a healthy food initiative to address food insufficiency.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority has approved 6,168 nonprofits and businesses for more than $74 million in funding through Phase 4 of its Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program, the organization said Tuesday.
The numbers, as of Tuesday morning, are increasing on a daily basis as the EDA continues to process the nearly 30,000 applications it received.
The EDA has $285 million in grant money available: $85 million from the original announcement of Phase 4 in May, plus an additional $200 million that was added to the pot last month.
All of the grantees so far have been given awards from the original $85 million total.