On behalf of the Gebbie Foundation Board of Directors and Staff, we want you to know that we are working with community partners to alleviate the personal and economic impacts felt in our community as the COVID-19 virus response continues. Though much is still unknown as to the duration of business disruptions, there are a number of actions we are taking, such as:
- Donating funds to the Chautauqua County Crisis Response Fund:COVID-19 (https://www.givegab.com/campaigns/chautauqua-county-crisis-response-fund);
- Providing a staff member to serve on the Crisis Response Fund Decision Committee;
- Communicating regularly with our grantees to assess and analyze their financial position, making the difficult decision to increase spending from our endowment to make sure they can quickly reopen in a strong position;
- Monitoring sources of information in order to sift out the most pertinent and share with our non-profit partners and downtown businesses, mainly in cooperation with the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation. They maintain the website, jamestownupclose.com that lists businesses and their contact information that are open during this time, and;
- Investigating sources for financial assistance outside of our community.
Foundations, by themselves, do not have the resources to address all of the needs that are arising during this crisis, but the Gebbie Foundation is doing everything it can to partner with other foundations and with government leaders to assist our community.
Health care workers, first responders, grocery store employees, other essential service workers, government officials and foundation staff cannot do this alone. Ridding ourselves of the coronavirus takes all of us. You have a role to play. Please follow the directives from health professionals and government officials; stay well and we will get through this together.
