Supporting the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund
In March, we donated $25,000 to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund. This program is a joint effort by Chicago organizations and individuals to disburse funds to nonprofit organizations around Chicagoland. Resources help provide access to essential services for residents in the City of Chicago and surrounding suburbs, covering everything from emergency food and supplies to healthcare and mortgage assistance.
Maintaining Our Wired to Learn Commitments to School Partners
Each year, we select an under-resourced school and provide $250,000 worth of technology and development to be used over a three-year period. This program helps support better attendance, higher test scores, and increased student engagement. With the shutdown of schools, the need for closing the technology divide in education is more important than ever. We’re working with Chicago Public Schools to continue delivering on our commitments to this program and evolve the way we support our partner schools.
Continuing Our Geek Grant Program
We donate $2,500 per month to a technological or educational organization nominated by a Relativity team member. Social distancing and economic instability have put many nonprofits at risk of losing the support they need now more than ever. We’re encouraging our employees to continue nominating their favorite organizations as we continue this program throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Encouraging Employee Involvement
There’s no greater impact than that we can have through person-to-person connectedness, and following social distancing practices doesn’t mean we can’t each be involved in supporting our neighbors. We’ve updated internal resources around our volunteer program to provide suggested organizations, needs, and philanthropic action our team members can take to support their communities during this pandemic. So far, we know of employees who are volunteering with local food pantries and even raising money for United Way with a virtual Mario Kart marathon.
Keeping the Lines of Communication Open
Our social impact team is closely involved with other organizations in our communities to understand evolving needs and evaluate how we can help. We’re also communicating with other Relativity team members and local nonprofits to ensure we can have the greatest impact with our efforts. Keep an eye on this page to follow along with any additional efforts we make as we wait for this crisis to come to a close.