COVID-19 RESPONSE

The Russell Berrie Foundation is supporting the resiliency of organizations that are providing critical services and assisting vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo by Jeffrey Rhode, Courtesy of Holy Name Medical Center

Photo by Jeffrey Rhode, Courtesy of Holy Name Medical Center

To date, we have given more than $5.5 million in emergency grants to organizations serving communities in New Jersey and Israel, prioritizing direct grants to medical institutions and to organizations providing healthcare-related services and addressing the needs of the elderly, the food-insecure and small businesses. We are working primarily with existing grant recipients that have displayed strong leadership and an ability to pivot effectively in these difficult times to meet rising demand for COVID-19-related services. 

Read the press release announcing our
COVID-19 response efforts

GRANTS SERVING THE NORTHERN NEW JERSEY COMMUNITY
* Asterisk denotes Russ Berrie Making a Difference awardees 

Medical and Healthcare Needs

Food Insecurity

  • Community Food Bank of New Jersey: $100,000 to lessen food insecurity and provide meals to those in need 

  • Bergen Volunteer Center: $50,000 for coordination of services such as matching volunteers with organizations in need in the local community

  • Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey: $50,000 for coordination of local resources and delivery of kosher meals

  • America’s Grow-a-Row: $30,000 to support production and distribution of fresh produce to food-insecure families and individuals *

  • Table to Table: $30,000 to provide “rescued” food (that would otherwise be wasted) to Northern New Jersey communities in need *

  • Move for Hunger: $25,000 to support COVID-19 efforts to fight food waste and hunger on the farm and at home

  • City Green: $20,000 for SNAP education and low-cost farmers markets in Bloomfield, Clifton, Paterson and Passaic *

Economic Insecurity

Other

OTHER DOMESTIC GRANTS

GRANT RECIPIENTS IN ISRAEL

Medical and Healthcare Needs

  • Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of the Bar Ilan University: $500,000 program for student volunteers supporting the healthcare needs of chronic care patients in community settings within the multiple, highly diverse and distinct ethnic and religious populations of the Eastern Galilee  

  • MSR at Sheba Medical Center: $200,000 for training of healthcare teams nationally and $100,000 for a specialized mannequin necessary for developing sophisticated respiratory simulation protocols

  • Mash’abim: $35,000 for a Kiryat Shmona-based program providing emotional support to healthcare workers throughout the country

Societal Needs

  • Netzach Yisrael Chinuch V'Hachsharah: $150,000 for education-related emergency support

  • Eshel at the Joint Distribution Committee Israel: $100,000 to provide welfare services for the elderly in Israel’s Arab communities

  • MATI, the Jerusalem Business Development Center: $100,000 to provide digital platforms enabling very small businesses in the ultra-Orthodox community and in East Jerusalem to access e-commerce opportunities

  • LeShem Mifaim Hinuchim: $75,000 to develop and pilot online pedagogy for ultra-Orthodox school systems, to be used in times of social distancing

  • Machshava Tova: $50,000 for access to technology for education and community services via a digital platform for Israel’s elderly population

  • Galila: $50,000 for beta site testing of a digital platform that will maximize medical home care as an alternative to hospitalization and $25,000 to create a hotline for the Bet Ha’Kerem Cluster

  • Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation (AJEEC): $50,000 for personal protective equipment and other hygiene-related needs for volunteers serving the Bedouin community of the Negev

  • David Yellin Academic College of Education: $50,000 to develop and pilot online courses for teaching Hebrew to speakers of other languages in Arab society

  • aChord Center at Hebrew University of Jerusalem: $50,000 to to address and reduce tensions between different sectors of Israeli Jewish society

  • Jerusalem Foundation: $50,000 for the 2021 Jerusalem Foundation Community and Culture Innovation Fund

  • 0202—Points of View from Jerusalem: $15,000 for the creation of a new website to increase communication across the various sectors of Jerusalem, which is more important than ever during COVID-19

  • Kulna Yerushalayim: $15,000 for general operating support, to enable Kulna to continue to meet the needs of East Jerusalem residents during the pandemic

  • Muslala: $10,000 for the Sinsila Center in East Jerusalem, which will be a community educational garden—more important than ever during COVID-19 for a neighborhood with limited outdoor open space

  • The Jerusalem Intercultural Center: $10,000 for the State of Jerusalem program, which will fund a journalism training program that will diversify the voices reporting and telling the story of the city during the pandemic

Operations and Coordination with Local Organizations and Municipalities

  • ELKA at the Joint Distribution Committee Israel: $200,000 for coordination of services at the local level and $50,000 for projects in East Jerusalem

  • Maoz-Seal: $150,000 for emergency support for network coordination within municipalities, healthcare and education systems and $50,000 for local projects in the Northern periphery communities

  • NOVA Project: $50,000 for data-driven provision of services for local authorities during COVID-19 recovery

Other

  • Israel Science Foundation: $100,000 to generate actionable discoveries in combatting COVID-19 in partnership with additional funders and the Israeli government

  • The Foundation has also dedicated a $1 million program-related investment to Ogen Social Finance, Israel’s first social bank, which will provide impact loan support for small businesses and non-profit organizations. With the severe effects of the crisis on Israel’s economy reaching new heights, Ogen is providing relief to those in financial distress. The grant from The Russell Berrie Foundation meaningfully supports Ogen’s ability to provide much-needed access to capital for NGOs and small businesses facing this sudden financial emergency. 

Additional grants, both in the U.S. and Israel, will be announced on a rolling basis as the Foundation works in partnership with its grantees, communities and colleagues to respond to the current public health crisis.