COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds surpass $2.1 million

The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds for Eastern Washington and North Idaho have surpassed $2.1 million in fundraising efforts, Innovia Foundation announced recently.

“We are truly humbled by the outpouring of financial support for our COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds and, even more so, the heroism of our region’s frontline workers and nonprofit organizations,” said Innovia Foundation CEO Shelly O’Quinn. “The need has only continued to grow as we hear from our nonprofit community each day. We are dedicated to supporting our region and we ask the community to join us in addressing the critical needs of organizations throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho.”

Individuals and organizations can donate and find additional information about the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds via www.innovia.org/covid19, or directly support a nonprofit of their choice.

The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds are hosted at Innovia Foundation in partnership with Empire Health Foundation and Spokane County United Way in Eastern Washington, and Equinox Foundation, Avista Foundation and Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation in North Idaho.

In March, Innovia Foundation launched two COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds for the region: the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund - Eastern Washington and the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund - North Idaho.

In addition, Innovia launched two funds to support the work of Big Table (in Spokane) and CDAIDE (in Coeur d’Alene) to address the critical needs of hospitality and gig economy workers in our region. Contributions to support these efforts have surpassed $58,000.

The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds are designed to complement the work of public health officials and expand local capacity to address the outbreak as effectively as possible. Nearly $800,000 was distributed in the first round of COVID-19 grantmaking, directed to nonprofit and grassroots organizations, as well as schools and other government agencies, that are on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.

The second round of grant distributions from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds is expected in mid-June and will focus on addressing locally identified needs of communities throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho. In addition, Innovia’s community grant program will be awarding over $1 million in May to nonprofit organizations throughout the 20-county region.

The COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Funds are anchored by donations from funders including Innovia Foundation, Empire Health Foundation, Equinox Foundation, Spokane County United Way, Avista Foundation, Ballmer Group, Bank of America, BECU, Better Health Together, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation, Burlington Northern, Community Building Foundation, Delta Dental of Washington, Equinox Foundation, Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County, Itron, Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation, Mountain West Bank, MultiCare Health System, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Perigee Fund, Premera Blue Cross, Providence Health Care, Umpqua Bank, Wells Fargo and Women Helping Women Fund.