Philanthropy Helped Us Through The Past Year—And Remains Essential to End the Pandemic

It’s been just over a year since the novel coronavirus was identified, and as we all know, it has been an incredibly challenging year for our nation and world. In this year of angst and loss, it was heartening to see how the philanthropic community came together to have an impact helping meet critical needs as part of the COVID-19 emergency response. As we look ahead, 2021 promises hope as we have vaccines that have proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19. But we must turn hope into increased action and philanthropy remains integral to doing so.

In a new op-ed in Morning Consult, “The Pandemic Will Continue Without Strong Government and Philanthropic Support,” Dr. Judy Monroe highlights the unquestionable impact of the philanthropic response to COVID-19. Philanthropy has supported, extended and accelerated the government’s response to COVID-19, and it is inspiring to realize the impact of so many organizations, corporations and individuals working together.

Through their collective impact, a wide variety of needs have been met, such as providing personal protective equipment when there was an extreme shortage, supporting research to understand the effects of COVID-19, standing up testing centers and addressing challenges in communities disproportionately impacted by the virus.

As we look ahead, Dr. Monroe points out that philanthropic support combined with government support will continue to be essential, not only in defeating COVID-19 but also in our economic recovery. We need the philanthropic response—with foundations, corporations, organizations and individuals—to remain strong, so we can continue reaching the communities most in need and to support COVID-19 vaccinations to ensure we are all safe and healthy.