Updated: Kentucky foundations make six-figure coronavirus relief contributions
Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance will donate $500,000 to fight food insecurity in Kentucky, the company announced Wednesday.
Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company and the Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance foundation will make the six-figure donation after the second annual Clays for a Cause fundraising event was postponed due to social distancing guidelines.
Clays for a Cause, which supports hunger relief efforts in Kentucky, had already raised $125,000 for its upcoming event, the company said. Kentucky Farm Bureau said it added $375,000 from its own resources to make the donation total $500,000.
The money will be divided among three Kentucky nonprofits: Feeding Kentucky, Glean Kentucky and Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry. The donation is being made in support of Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles’ Kentucky Hunger Initiative, according to Kentucky Farm Bureau’s announcement.
“The coronavirus pandemic is impacting people of every socioeconomic status, but we know those who were already living in food-insecure conditions are at an even greater risk right now,” Mark Haney, president of Kentucky Farm Bureau, said in a statement. “We couldn’t turn our backs on our fellow Kentuckians simply because our fundraising event was postponed.”
Kentucky Farm Bureau’s announcement came just one day after the Blue Grass Community Foundation granted $100,000 to coronavirus relief initiatives.
For the Blue Grass Community Foundation’s contributions, half the money will go to the Coronavirus Response Fund, an emergency needs fund that was created in partnership with United Way of the Bluegrass, according to the Blue Grass Community Foundation. That $50,000 will add to the $243,000 that has already been sent out to nonprofit organizations to provide access to food, health care, transportation and more, according to the Blue Grass Community Foundation.
Another $10,000 will go to the Nourish Lexington Fund, an initiative that’s having recently unemployed hospitality workers prepare meals for those in need. The Arts Resilience Initiative will get $10,000 as well to provide financial relief for artists and art organizations impacted by coronavirus.
The remaining $30,000 is being set aside to award in the coming weeks as more need arises, the Blue Grass Community Foundation said.
“Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that the needs of our community have never been more urgent,” Blue Grass Community Foundation president/CEO Lisa Adkins said in a statement. “This is what a community endowment fund is meant for, to respond to the community’s greatest needs, in good times and in bad.”
The money will come from the Fund for Greater Lexington, a community endowment fund. The fund helps to “address Lexington’s most critical needs and compelling opportunities,” according to the Blue Grass Community Foundation. The foundation has 10 endowed funds in total. Those endowed funds help provide resources in 10 central Kentucky counties.
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 9:03 AM.