We believe that now is the time to be as generous as possible.

That’s why we committed an additional $700,000 from our endowment to the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund. And that’s also why we are providing additional funding to vital grassroots organizations that we support through our regular grantmaking programs to ensure that they, too, survive this crisis.

As a Community Foundation, our mission is to serve Brooklyn in perpetuity. For some, that would suggest we should be conservative in our expenditures. But if we want Brooklyn to have a strong future, we have to bolster and sustain our communities right now in every way we possibly can.

To do just that, we have raised $2.3 million for the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund, through the incredible generosity of our donors. And with this week’s new grants, we have given out more than $1.5M—THANK YOU Brooklyn!

We also know, of course, that the needs grow greater each day. Brooklyn now has the highest fatality rate in the City, and the greatest number of probable COVID-19 deaths of any county in the country.

If you haven’t already given, or you have the resources to give again, we ask that you please make a donation to the Brooklyn COVID-19 Response Fund today.

We know that this crisis is hitting communities of color the hardest. Because of historic and systemic racial injustice, we are seeing significant inequities not only in trends in exposure, infection and death with the disease itself, but also with its devastating economic and social impacts.

Our latest grants continue to prioritize urgent needs in communities of color, including emergency food, resources for small businesses and low-wage workers, support for vulnerable families and young people, and more.

View All COVID-19 Grants

Thank you for your partnership and support. We are in this for the long-term. And as hard as we are working to get support to the most vulnerable in this moment, we will also fight just as hard for a just and equitable recovery.