There was a surge of companies and corporations donating personal protective equipment to health care workers and other frontline organizations at the start of the pandemic. Bank of America hasn’t slowed its efforts.
Bank of America has donated 226,000 face masks, 128,000 gloves and 517 cases of hand sanitizer to New Jersey communities so far in 2021. The effort brings the total number of masks donated in New Jersey since the start of the pandemic to 1.2 million.
BofA officials say the donation is part of a nationwide effort started in 2020 to immediately distribute millions of masks to communities disproportionally impacted by the coronavirus, including communities of color. The bank recently reached the milestone of 25 million masks donated nationwide.
The donations are connected to its $1.25 billion commitment to help local communities address economic and racial inequality, bank officials said.
Here’s a look at some of the places BofA has made a PPE donation:
- 100,000 masks and 50,000 gloves to Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which will distribute the PPE to its partner agencies that help fight hunger and poverty in New Jersey;
- 40,000 masks to Norwescap to protect staff members and participants in programs that help low-income communities transform poverty into opportunity.;
- 20,000 gloves and 50 cases of hand sanitizer to Boys & Girls Club Paterson/Passaic, which will distribute the PPE to the children ages 5-18 in Paterson and Passaic that they serve;
- 20,000 masks, 10,000 gloves and 50 cases of hand sanitizer to Fulfill, which will use the PPE to help distribute food to the community at its own facilities and will help provide PPE to its food pantry partners;
- 10,000 masks and 50 cases of hand sanitizer to Elijah’s Promise, a community soup kitchen in New Brunswick, which will distribute all of its donation to the community;
- 10,000 masks, 10,000 gloves and 50 cases of hand sanitizer to the Boys & Girls Club of Mercer County, which will distribute PPE to club families and community members;
- 10,000 masks, 8,000 gloves and 50 cases of hand sanitizer to Grounds for Sculpture, a sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton, which supports its opening plan by providing staff with proper PPE;
- 10,000 masks, 10,000 gloves and 50 cases of hand sanitizer to Region Nine UAW Housing Corp., which will distribute PPE across its 100% affordable housing communities.