Vertex Foundation donates funds to support COVID-19 efforts

Vertex has announced that its associated nonprofit charitable foundation, the Vertex Foundation, is to make donations to three organisations in the UK to support their COVID-19 relief efforts.

The move falls under a $5-million global programme to support the COVID-19 pandemic response around the world.

The funds will help organisations that are providing emergency relief and assistance in the communities where Vertex employees live and work, "with a focus on those providing health care and supplies and support for vulnerable populations".

The UK based charities are:

The Trussell Trust, to support its nationwide network of food banks and provide emergency food and support needed because of COVID-19; to build on and support the development of a national helpline and referral system to enable food banks to meet increased demand for emergency food;

Crisis, to provide small grants to local grassroots organisations providing healthcare, isolation-support, and the increased impact on services, and directly supporting the homeless in London for example providing "essentials" packages of food, tissues and hand sanitisers for the homeless; and

Age UK, to support older people, particularly those aged 70 and older who are worst hit by the epidemic physically and emotionally – providing support to their 130 local Age UKs across the country, and supporting the huge demands put on their helplines and national support by the epidemic.

"The Vertex Foundation’s immediate priority is to address the unprecedented needs in our local communities resulting from COVID-19," Michael Parini, chairman of the Vertex Foundation and executive vice president and chief legal, administrative and business development officer at Vertex.

"We are focused on providing funding to organisations that can provide immediate access to health care and health supplies – including testing and personal protective equipment – in hard-hit countries, and those who are working on-the-ground to provide vulnerable populations with food, care and education".

The Vertex Foundation today also announced that it has committed $1 million to Direct Relief, an organisation dedicated to providing essential supplies for health workers, such as critical personal protective equipment (PPE), N-95 masks, battery powered oxygen concentrators and ventilators.

The Foundation’s donation will help establish Direct Relief’s European relief efforts, specifically in UK, Spain, France and Germany, and help the organisation expand its response in the US.

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