This is not a story about what could have been done better, but what is being done right. And you can find what’s being done right by looking to local businesses.
The support and love that lives in the Tampa Bay community is overwhelming. We are blessed to live in a community where people truly want to help, and support, one another. And we at TBBW LOVE to hear, and share, these stories. Keep sharing, keep caring. The feedback from the region has been nothing short of amazing! People are reading, and are ingesting, the positive news: with a sigh of relief.
We are in this together!
We will continue to bring you these “round-ups” of what is being done right here in Tampa Bay!
Through the UBS Optimus Foundation, UBS is partnering with Americares and No Kid Hungry to help the local communities throughout the United States to deal with specific issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Americares: Providing personal protective equipment, training health workers on the frontlines of the outbreak and supplying protective equipment to partner clinics in California, New York, Texas and Washington state.
No Kid Hungry: Addressing food insecurity issues of children by partnering with food banks across the country on home-delivered meals, pop-up meals programs, schools and community pantries, backpack programs and other steps to help reach kids (and their families) who have lost access to meals given school closures and massive displacement.
UBS is matching 100 percent of the donations made by employees and clients to help slow the spread of the virus and help provide medical supplies to 1,000 clinics nationwide
Florida Blue is waiving out-of-pocket costs through June 1 for its members who must undergo treatment for COVID-19, including in-patient hospital admissions.
This impacts all Florida Blue members with the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage (excluding Part D drug plans) and other individual plans, as well as all fully insured employer group health plans. Florida Blue is also working with its self-funded ERISA employers to assist them in meeting the needs of their employees during the health crisis.
Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay is offering free online learning resources to help student engagement during the closure of schools. The online programs are available to download completely free of charge for students, teachers, parents and guardians. The resources are categorized by elementary school, middle school and high school, offering valuable and fun learning tools spanning K-12 grades.
Alongside this, JA Tampa Bay is in constant consultation with local school district educators to deliver stemCONNECT programming, JA Personal Finance and the existing JA blended curriculum via Zoom virtual lessons; led by teachers, JA volunteers or JA staff.
In the wake of the coronavirus, Feeding Tampa Bay’s mission is even more vital to our community. With that in mind, Bank of America invested $200,000 to help Feeding Tampa Bay respond to the growing demand for their services.
“The socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus continues to disproportionately affect our most vulnerable populations,” said Bill Goede, Tampa market president for Bank of America. “By supporting Feeding Tampa Bay, Bank of America is addressing the immediate need for food access for families, children and seniors who are most affected and struggling to maintain adequate nourishment.”
Debbie Lundberg, a certified life coach, leadership coach and image consultant and author of Presenting Powerfully, is offering clients a complimentary Zoom webinar. She’s delivered at least 14 of them as of this week. Learn more at debbielundberg.com.
St. Pete Rising, an online publication dedicated to covering Downtown St. Pete, teamed up with the EDGE Guide, a promotional company for Downtown St. Pete’s EDGE District, is launching a fundraiser that not only provides meals to health care workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis but supports local restaurants as well.
To date, the fundraiser, dubbed St. Pete Meals, has raised over $25,000 from more than 400 individuals and organizations. Over 1,000 meals have been delivered, to date, and thousands more will be delivered in the coming weeks as a result of these donations.
Meals are sourced from a variety of local restaurants including Poppo’s Taqueria, Lonni’s Sandwiches, Dr. BBQ, Pacific Counter and more. These partnerships are proving to be a win-win in supporting local restaurants as well as our frontline healthcare workers. Desserts have been donated by Wandering Wisk Bakeshop, Grateful Bakes and Pop Goes the Waffle, while beverages have been provided by MADE Coffee and Mother Kombucha.
Donations continue to be raised at StPeteMeals.com and health care facilities who wish to receive meals are encouraged to reach out. St. Pete Meals will continue delivering meals from local restaurants to frontline health care workers seven days a week until donations run out.
St. Petersburg College’s Health Education Center donated more than 26,000 medical supplies to local hospitals in need.
“It has been such a humbling experience to witness the depth of compassion our team at SPC has demonstrated during this very challenging time,” said SPC HEC Acting Provost Deanna Stentiford. “Our instructors quickly jumped in as a team to assess what was needed in our community and how to facilitate getting these supplies out ASAP.”
Stentiford and Amy Krueger, SPC Dental Hygiene Academic Chair, safely delivered the supplies to St. Anthony’s, St. Joseph’s Children’s and Johns Hopkins All Children’s hospitals.
Little Greek Fresh Grill is focusing on takeout, curbside service, delivery and, now, a new grocery sales capability.
“With concern for the safety of our guests and employees across the country, we feel this action is necessary,” says Nick Vojnovic, president, in a statement. ‘We want to give back to the community so we are offering a discount if you order online for pickup. We will bring it right to your car, offering an easy way to pick up food while maintaining social distance.”
Customers can order meals and household food and supplies at littlegreekfreshgrill.com and enter code GREEK 15 at checkout for 15 percent off the total.
The Pinellas Community Foundation set up a fund to assist artists, arts organizations and creative businesses whose livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
The Pinellas Arts Community Relief Fund will provide rapid-response awards of $500 to $1,500 to meet urgent financial needs. To apply, visit pinellascf.org/pinellasartsrelief.
