The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has begun disbursing monies from a massive $100 million relief campaign to support global communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and support related research.
The foundation announced the first round of grants totaling more than $31 million to help alleviate the effects of the pandemic in communities throughout the world, including tens of millions of dollars to Greece and the United States.
“We cannot overstate the impact of the pandemic on society at large, and we owe our deepest gratitude to those who continue, in spite of the immense challenges they face daily, to serve the most vulnerable among us,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “Within our lifetimes, the need has never been greater. Our collective response will have to be both swift and forward-looking; these immediate grants represent the first step from SNF on a long path, as the effects of the pandemic will be with us for a long time.”
In the United States, SNF grants totaling almost $6 million have been made to both individual nonprofit organizations and collaborative funds which focus on ensuring access to food and other essentials, offering mental health support to affected populations and providing emergency relief to artists.
The foundation gave grants to organizations such as the Broad Street Ministry in Philadelphia, which provides food and hygiene products to unsheltered populations, and several centers in New York City also serving at-risk groups.
The campaign also emphasizes supporting organizations that provide mental health support for frontline workers, seniors, children and other vulnerable individuals.
Almost $12 million was also disbursed in Greece, the birthplace of the foundation and its namesake, the late shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos.
The SNF already has a massive investment in the country with billions donated for a cultural center in Athens, as well as an existing $400 million commitment in the public health sector.
New grants in the country will support frontline medical workers, organizations serving vulnerable populations and an initiative with the Greek Ministry of Health for psychological support of populations impacted by the pandemic.
In an extraordinary move, a single grant of $8.1 million will be distributed equally among nearly 5,000 frontline nurses, doctors, and cleaning personnel working in ICUs at coronavirus clinics in Greece.
The purposes of this appreciation payment is to “acknowledge the altruistic efforts of these heroes on the front line of efforts against the pandemic in Greece who risk their lives to save others.”
The foundation also sent grant money to organizations elsewhere in the world, including more than $1 million to France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as nations in Africa.
A complete outline of the foundation’s grants is listed here, including the names of beneficiary organizations.
