Community Chat

[Drythe]

In my area @900 retired Physicians, Nurses, and current 4th year medical students are volunteering and risking their own health to help.

I know this is happening elsewhere.

Feet on the Ground.

[Spurt]

• Sports teams that have given....
•  
• Atlanta Braves: All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman Freeman has pledged $50,00 to the Atlanta Food Bank and $50,000 to the Giving Kitchen, a program that provides emergency assistance to food service workers. Freeman has also donated $25,000 to the Salvation Army, bringing his total outlay to $125,000.
• Atlanta Hawks: Team owner Tony Ressler told Hawks CEO Steve Koonin two weeks before the league decided to go on a hiatus that "if we shut down, we have to take care of our part-time employees," as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sarah K. Spencer. 
• Boston Celtics: The Celtics will reportedly be paying game-night staff through the remainder of the regular season, per MassLive's John Karalis.
• Brooklyn Nets: In response to Nets' guard Spencer Dinwiddie tweeting about taking care of non-salaried arena workers, team owner Joe Tsai responded by saying the franchise is putting a plan in place to help out Barclays Center staff. That plan includes paying non-salaried workers the paychecks they would typically receive through May if the remainder of the Nets games were played, in addition to non-Nets events such as concerts.
• Charlotte Hornets: In a press release on Sunday, the Hornets announced that team owners and players were coming together to help pay for the salaries of part-time workers at Spectrum Center who were previously scheduled to work any upcoming Hornets or G League Greensboro Swarm games through April 13.
• Chicago Bulls: The Bulls announced Saturday that they would pay game-day employees through all previously scheduled Bulls and Blackhawks games. 
• Chicago Cubs: Jason Heyward donated $200,000 to coronavirus relief in Chicago, split between two organizations. Heyward is giving $100,000 each to the Greater Chicago Food Depository and MASK, an organization that is collecting supplies and food for families impacted by the virus.
• Cleveland Cavaliers: Kevin Love became the first player in the league to donate money to event staff at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse when he announced on social media that he would give $100,000 to those workers. The Cavaliers followed their star forward and announced on Twitter that they would be taking care of all hourly staff.
• Dallas Mavericks: When the league announced postponement, team owner Mark Cuban wasted no time in making it clear that he would make sure all the employees who work events and games at the American Airlines Center would be paid during the hiatus. The Mavericks also released a statement Sunday saying that they plan to reimburse employees for breakfast and lunch purchases from Dallas-area restaurants in an effort to not only help those employees but local businesses as well.
• Denver Nuggets: In a press release, team owner Josh Kroenke announced that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment will provide financial compensation for all the workers at the Pepsi Center affected by the lost wages due to the NBA's current hiatus.
• Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin will be donating $100,000 to the workers inside Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, per The Detroit News' Rod Beard.
• Golden State Warriors: Warriors ownership, players and coaches will contribute $1 million to a disaster relief fund for Chase Center employees, the team announced. "The men and women who work our games at Chase Center are critical in providing an incredible game-night experience for our fans," Warriors guard Steph Curry said. "As players, we wanted to do something along with our ownership and coaches to help ease the pain during this time." 
• Houston Astros: Astros star George Springer joined the growing list of stars within the sports world to go into their own pockets to help others impacted by the spread of the coronavirus by pledging to donate $100,000 to Minute Maid Park employees.  
• Indiana Pacers: Pacers owner Herb Simon has given financial aid to the part-time workers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, per Bob Kravitz of The Athletic. 
• Houston Rockets: Team CEO Tad Brown said that the franchise is getting a plan together to take care of all hourly workers at Toyota Center, per The Houston Chronicle's Johnathan Feigen.
• Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers: The Clippers and Lakers, both tenants of the Staples Center, along with the Kings of the NHL, announced Saturday that they have created a fund to compensate over 2,800 part-time and contract workers that typically staff Staples Center for NBA and NHL games. This includes employees such as team statisticians, announcers and dance teams. Also, Lakers star forward Anthony Davis announced a partnership with Lineage Logistics that will help Staples Center workers find work while the NBA is suspended. Davis and Lineage will also match up to $250,000 in donations for Feed the Frontlines LA, an organization that is aiming to raise money to purchase food from local restaurants to deliver it to hospital workers.
• Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies will be compensating all game night employees for any games missed through the end of the year, according to Geoff Calkins of The Daily Memphian.
• Miami Heat: The Heat will provide funds to their partners in food and beverage services, security and housekeeping in order to help pay their part-time arena staffers, the team announced. Additionally, the Arison family, owners of the Heat, will donate $1 million to a fund dedicated to helping those part-time workers. 
• Milwaukee Bucks: Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo took to Twitter to announce that he will be donating $100,000 to workers at Fiserv Forum, saying "it's bigger than basketball."
• Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns is donating $100,000 to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to help aid in providing testing for COVID-19. 
• Major League Baseball: The league donated $1 million to emergency food services, and each team pledged $1 million for ballpark workers affected by the shutdown. It has also announced support for minor-leaguers, who haven't been paid since August. 
• New Orleans Pelicans: No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion Williamson, announced on his Instagram that he's pledging to cover the salaries of all workers at Smoothie King Center for the next 30 days. In the post, Williamson said, "this is a small way for me to express my support and appreciation for these wonderful people who have been so great to me and my teammates." In addition to Zion's contribution, Pelicans owner Gayle Benson will be donating $1 million to create the Gayle Benson Community Assistance Fund, which will not only help the workers at Smoothie King Center, but those impacted by the coronavirus in the greater New Orleans area as well.
• New York Knicks: Madison Square Garden reportedly plans to play event staff, including employees who work Knicks and Rangers games, until May. 
• Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder released a statement Friday stating that they will offer financial assistance to both the part-time stadium workers that they employ directly and the ones who technically work for ASM Global.
• Orlando Magic: The DeVos Family, owners of the Orlando Magic, have created a $2 million compensation fund for Orlando Magic, Amway Center, Lakeland Magic and Orlando Solar Bears hourly workers for games and time missed during the COVID-19 suspension of seasons. Magic power forward Jonathan Isaac also decided to help provide children in the Orlando area with breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday throughout the length of the crisis, in response to schools being shut down amidst the pandemic. 
• Philadelphia 76ers: The hourly workers at Wells Fargo Center will be compensated during the NBA's hiatus, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark. Also, Joel Embiid says he is donating $500,000 to coronavirus relief and aiding team workers who are taking temporary salary reductions during the shutdown.
• Phoenix Suns: The Suns announced in a press release that all Talking Stick Resort Arena workers will receive compensation for the remaining Suns games canceled in March. 
• Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers are pledging $1.4 million to the nearly 1,000 part-time employees who work game nights at Moda Center, as reported by The Athletic's Jason Quick.
• Sacramento Kings: The Kings are partnering with Legends Hospitality, ABM, Fanatics and SAMMCO to provide compensation to all employees who work game nights at Golden 1 Center through the end of March, per The Sacramento Bee's Jason Anderson.
• San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs have created a fund of $500,000 to help pay for non-contract and part-time employees, per The San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald.
• Toronto Raptors: The Raptors joined forces with four other Toronto professional sports teams to create a fund for all workers impacted by the sudden stop in sports schedules
• Utah Jazz: Rudy Gobert, the first NBA player to test positive for the coronavirus, will donate $500,000 to various causes. Of that money, $200,000 will go to game-day employees for the Jazz, $100,000 each will go to families impacted by the virus in Utah and Oklahoma City, and 100,000 euros will go to his native France.  
• Washington Wizards: Team owner Ted Leonsis reportedly told Capital One Arena workers that they will be paid through March 31 for any Wizards or Capitals games they were scheduled to work, per The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir.
• Former NBA player Jeremy Lin announced that he was donating $150,000 to UNICEF to help fight the coronavirus. Lin also donated the same amount to the China Foundation. 

[novamc1]

I'm seeing many signs of local generosity.

Someone is offering on the NextDoor website to provide food to anyone who needs it.

Our little neighborhood put together  funds to have a caterer provide box lunches to the emergency room staff at our local hospital.

Other efforts to feed and assist the the needy are visible everywhere around here.  People who never have been in that predicament before now need help as businesses are closed and employees are out of work.

[beckyb1012]

Texas Roadhouse CEO gives up his salary from 3/2020 until Jan. 2021 and suspends giving out dividends this year to pay the employees of the 500 restaurants.

[wishmoon]

I know a week and a half ago or two weeks, Cher asked on Twitter for nurses to tell her what they needed. She also sent water to Flint, just didn't blow her own horn.

[gidgetgh]

---

@Imaoldhippie wrote:

What???? Not one Hollyweird star donating?  Oh excuse me I forgot they are saving their money to buy their spoiled brats into college this fall.

---

@Imaoldhippie - off the top of my head, with no google research, I know Kelly Ripa and her husband donated $1M. 

Nicole Kidman also donated. As did JJ Watt, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Ciara and Russell Wilson, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Behtenny Frankel, Kylie Kenner ($1M), Drew Bees, $5M, Angelina Jolie, J0hn Mayer, Oprah ($10M), Selena Gomez, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Jay Z, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton. 

And that was just from a quick google search and looking at 2 results. I'll keep looking. 

[Alison Wonderland]

---

@Imaoldhippie wrote:

What???? Not one Hollyweird star donating?  Oh excuse me I forgot they are saving their money to buy their spoiled brats into college this fall.

---

Why do you assume that's true? Not everyone wants to make a big deal out of their charity work. It wasn't until after Prince died that people started talking about all the good he'd done and the time and money he donated.

It must be an extra difficult time to be so angry.

[Alison Wonderland]

---

@beckyb1012 wrote:

I read a plane came in yesterday from Putin/Russia with medical supplies. 

---

That's true, but they were purchased, not donated.

[Kachina624]

Some of the biggest names in the world of business have donated to fund research, pay for personal protective equipment for hospitals, and help victims suffering during the Covid-19 crisis. Here is a list of who’s donated.

Keep an eye on this page for updates as the crisis continues.

• Jack Ma, co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, has pledged $14 million through his Ma Foundation to help develop a coronavirus vaccine. He’s also donated 1.1 million testing kits, six million masks, and 60,000 protective suits and face shields to 54 African countries; 500,000 testing kits and 1 million face masks to the U.S.; 1 million masks to Japan; and 1.8 million masks and 100,000 testing kits to Europe, including Italy and Spain.

• Bill Gates, co-chairman and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed $100 million through his foundation to aid global detection, isolation, and treatment of the virus.
• Ralph Lauren, executive chairman and chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren Corporation and the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation has donated $10 million..

• Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, founders of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, are donating $30 million. $25 million will go to the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, while $5 million will go to relief efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Sergio Armatti, UBS CEO, is donating $1 million through a family foundation. It will go to people in need of emergency funds in the Canton of Ticino, the southernmost region of Switzerland and the worst-affected by the crisis in that country. 
• Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, is donating $25 million to those affected in Michigan, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

• Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has donated $25 million to start the Amazon Relief Fund, which will offer grants of $400 to $5,000 to independent delivery companies, gig workers in the Amazon Flex program, and seasonal employees.

• Michael Bloomberg, majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg Philanthropies, will donate $40 million to fight the spread of the virus in Africa and low- and middle-income countries around the world.

• Li Ka Shing, chairman of Li Ka Shing Foundation, has donated $13 million to help frontline medical workers in Wuhan, China.
• Remo Ruffini, chairman and CEO of luxury sportswear brand Moncler, donated €10 million (US$10.9 million) to the hard-hit region of Lombardy, Italy, for the construction of a new hospital.
• Geoge Soros, Central European University founder and chairman, donated $1.1 million to help his native Budapest prepare for the coronavirus pandemic.
• Giorgio Armani, fashion designer and founder of Giorgio Armani, donated €1.25 million euro to Italian hospitals and institutions

[QueenDanceALot]

---

@Drythe wrote:

In my area @900 retired Physicians, Nurses, and current 4th year medical students are volunteering and risking their own health to help.

I know this is happening elsewhere.

Feet on the Ground.

---

@Drythe 

Heroes!