SPRINGFIELD — A fourth round of grants, totaling $226,000, from the COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley has been announced, with health care and medical centers in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties receiving funding.
According to a press release from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, which oversees the COVID-19 Response Fund of the Pioneer Valley, grants were also directed to youth-serving organizations and to programs providing food to those impacted by the crisis. To date, the fund has provided more than $1.3 million to local organizations.
Grants were presented to: Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield, Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, and Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield (through the Baystate Health Foundation); Holyoke Medical Center in Holyoke; Mercy Hospital in Springfield; Shriners Hospitals for Children in Springfield; and Cooley Dickinson Hospital Health Care Corp. in Northampton.
Also receiving grants are: the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield; the Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls; the Center for Human Development, for its Family Outreach program in Amherst; the Community Adolescent Resource and Education Center in Holyoke; DIAL/SELF in Greenfield; Friends of Children in Hadley; and Our Community Table/Westfield Soup Kitchen in Westfield.
Since launching the COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts has raised $3.6 million from 350 individuals, families, foundations and companies, the release states.
“As the impact on our region unfolds, more urgent needs are emerging and the health care systems in the three counties have been hit particularly hard,” said Katie Allan Zobel, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. “These grants to the health care institutions in the three-county area recognize the critical importance of the health care infrastructure in Western Massachusetts. This latest round also targets programs that are working with isolated youth of low-income families who are particularly vulnerable during this crisis. Grants also help to provide more food and nutrition access to those in need.”
Zobel said that with the announcement that public schools will be closed for the rest of the academic year, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts will be conducting additional outreach to determine the needs of youth going forward.
“We are striving to be strategic in our grant making, and needs related to youth — who are increasingly vulnerable — are emerging as a priority,” she said.
The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts welcomes additional donations to the COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley. Donations can be made online at communityfoundation.org/covid19.