Fund for Women Donates $200K To COVID-19 Initiative In Delaware

The Fund for Women (FFW), an endowed fund at the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF), has donated $200K to the COVID-19 Emergency Response Initiative.

The FFW’s gift, which will support grants to nonprofits addressing community needs resulting from the pandemic, was divided evenly between the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund at the DCF and the Delaware Does More COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund at United Way of Delaware.

The Rapid Response Fund at UWDE is focused on alleviating the near-term impact of COVID-19 by working to supplement and support efforts related to children in low-income households, the working poor and seniors. The Strategic Response Fund at the DCF targets emerging and evolving needs of the state’s most-impacted communities for the longer term needs of our state. Philanthropy Delaware is working with both UWDE and the DCF.

Commenting on the group’s decision, FFW Chair Lynn Kokjohn said, “While we recognize the many grant applications we received are vitally important to women and girls in Delaware, we also acknowledge that because of the COVID-19 crisis, we are in a very different environment today. We decided to dramatically change course and to redirect this year’s funding into the critical community work being managed by United Way and the Delaware Community Foundation.”

The two funds have already given $940K to 38 organizations, including the Food Bank of Delaware (statewide), First State Community Action Agency (Georgetown), the Modern Maturity Center (Dover), Little Sisters of the Poor (Newark), and CHILD, Inc. (Wilmington).

Nonprofits can submit applications for the Strategic Response Fund at the DCF on a weekly rolling basis at delcf.org/covid-grants. Gifts to the fund can be made at delcf.org/covid19-fund.

Through collective philanthropy, the Fund for Women invests and advocates by bringing together our knowledge, passion and commitment to empower women and girls in Delaware to achieve their potential. The FFW was established in 1993 as an endowment at the Delaware Community Foundation. Since then, the FFW has issued almost $2.9 million in grants to hundreds of nonprofit programs statewide. For more information, please visit fundforwomende.com.

The mission of the Delaware Community Foundation is to improve the lives of the people of Delaware by empowering and growing philanthropy through knowledge and relationships, now and in the future. As a facilitator, information resource and manager of charitable funds, the DCF helps communities and philanthropists focus charitable resources for the greatest community benefit statewide. For more information, visit delcf.org or call 302.571.8004.

Source: Fund for Women