Barton Foundation opens COVID-19 Response Fund for community aid

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With the anticipated impact of coronavirus COVID-19 in the area, the Barton Foundation has created a COVID-19 Response Fund aimed at helping community members and healthcare workers affected by the outbreak. Barton Health will match donations up to $75,000 to build the fund and help provide relief for residents.

The COVID-19 Response Fund will provide flexible and discretionary resources for community members facing challenges and financial hardship from impacts of the coronavirus, such as food delivery; support for front-line healthcare workers and first responders facing financial pressures with childcare; assistance for seniors and other vulnerable home-isolating patient populations; and resources to offer shelter and hygiene products for those in need.

One hundred percent of donations to the Barton Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund will be dedicated to helping local families and healthcare workers.

Donations are tax deductible and unrestricted to ensure that resources may be deployed as quickly as possible. To make a donation, or for further information, please contact Chris Kiser, Barton Foundation Executive Director at 530.543.5612, or ckiser@bartonhealth.org. Please make checks to: Barton Foundation, COVID-19 Response Fund. The Barton Foundation also accepts Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express.

“We are working hard to offer some relief to our community as we face this health crisis together,” said Kiser. “The response to COVID-19 is constantly evolving and placing significant demands on our healthcare system and local economy.”

The Foundation will begin accepting grant applications from those who need assistance Monday, March 30. Completing a one-page application in Spanish or English and providing evidence of need is all it takes to be considered, and funds will begin to be released in April 2020.

For more information on the Barton Foundation’s efforts to address COVID-19, visit bartonhealth.org/foundation. If you or a loved one are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness, call Barton’s COVID-19 Health Hotline: 530.600.1999.