Source: NEW BALANCE FOUNDATION PLEDGES $2 MILLION TO SUPPORT COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORTS
Before I jumped back into writing about the industry I thought it was important to take a few minutes to share the sneaker companies who have made financial contributions to efforts to fight COVID-19. I visited over 20 footwear brand websites and only found the information on giving on these few sites. This does not mean that other brands haven’t given and aren’t helping. This means I was only able to find readily available information on what brands are doing beyond closing doors to keep employees and customers safe. List and Links below:
Boston-based New Balance Foundation today announced it has committed $2 million in non-profit grants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to support local, regional and global communities.Under Armour is donating $1 million to Feeding America to support hunger relief efforts as a result of current school closures and quarantines. By partnering with Feeding America and local food banks, we are lending support to ensure students and their families who are impacted by current, and potentially extended, disruptions have the meals they need. The donation efforts will be focused on reaching the cities where our teammates live and work, including Baltimore, Maryland; San Francisco and Rialto, California; Nashville, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; and Portland, Oregon.Today, we are launching a 30-day “Healthy at Home fitness” challenge on Under Armour’s MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun platforms, to help individuals and families at home stay healthy and physically active. When users join the challenge, we will donate up to $1 million in combination of monetary donation and product to support Good Sports’ efforts to ensure youth sport leagues have necessary equipment, footwear and apparel.Nike: In light of the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak impacting our teammates, friends and family, we are coming together to support communities where our employees live and work. Nike’s leaders, the Nike Foundation and Nike are committing more than $15 million to COVID-19 response efforts.Allbirds: We’re working hard to lift up our healthcare community responding to COVID-19. We’ve already donated $500,000 worth of shoes, but we still have a long list of friends who need support. So now we’re figuring out ways you can do your part, too.Merrell: This week 1,200 pairs of Merrell shoes and boots to our local hospitals – Spectrum Health and Mercy Healthas well as to the Grand Rapids Police Department and Fire Department. We could not be more proud to call West Michigan home and we want to support those on the front lines to protect our community’s health and safety. Thank you for your work, service, and dedication.
