Humility and transparency –  two of the guiding values of the Grunin Foundation. For us, humility means staying humble and always putting our mission before our brand and personal interests. Transparency means conducting our activities openly and communicating clearly and honestly to our partners, grantees and community. While we never want the focus to be on us, we want to share our journey and the actions we are taking as a Foundation.

When 2020 started, we celebrated our brand relaunch, unveiling our new identity and a renewed commitment to driving economic excellence in the region and beyond. Little did we know, that would be one of the last times we were able to come together in person for the foreseeable future. When the global pandemic hit, we quickly shifted our focus, communications and funding.

With each day bringing a new challenge that could not be predicted, we started with what we knew would have the most immediate impact:

• Shifting Foundation-hosted events to a virtual platform to keep everyone safely connected.
• Keeping sponsorships and donations in place to support organizations even with events being cancelled.
• Offering Zoom accounts to local nonprofits at no cost for as long as we need to remain virtual. Since March, we have funded 119 licensed users with more than 5,000 meetings held.
• Proactively making contributions to organizations that are providing direct services that support basic human needs, resulting in over $100,000 of funding to local nonprofits.

As the days and weeks went on, we realized the pandemic wasn’t something that was going away quickly. We continued to work with our partners and other philanthropic organizations throughout the state to determine the ever-evolving needs of the community. Here are some of the additional ways we have been helping to support COVID-19 efforts:

• Contributed over a half a million dollars to the healthcare systems supporting the Central Jersey Shore. Of that, $250,000 was given to both the Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health System Emergency Relief Fund and Hackensack Meridian Health to distribute among the hospitals within Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Additionally, CentraState Medical Center received $25,000.
• Committed $250,000 to provide six coronavirus testing centers to Monmouth County residents in more densely populated, higher risk neighborhoods in Asbury Park, Freehold, Keansburg, Long Branch, Neptune and Red Bank. This is being done in partnership with the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders which has committed $250,000 of CARES Act funding.
• Contributed $250,000 to the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The Fund was developed collaboratively by a coalition of arts funders across the state, including the Grunin Foundation, the Dodge Foundation, Prudential Foundation, and New Jersey State Council on the Arts, to assist New Jersey artists and arts organizations for short-term recovery and long-term sustainability. The mission of the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund is to ensure the survival and strength of the state’s arts and culture sector during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to providing funding, we have been participating on committees, calls and collaborative efforts to continue making an impact in our nonprofit and business communities. We have also kept our Catapult Institute sessions going virtually, and even added more workshops than originally planned. We know how important it is for everyone to stay connected, feel a sense of normalcy and have the opportunity to lean on each other for support. The Foundation has hosted several interactive webinars and virtual networking events based on specific feedback from our nonprofit partners, with much more to come.

We have also been actively listening to the racial justice and equity discussions going on in our community and the nation. While we don’t have all the answers, we pledge to be an effective part of the solution and help foster the dialogue within our communities, working towards a more just and equitable society. Not only have we begun to do the work internally as a Foundation, we have convened a diverse group of leaders from higher education institutions at the Central Jersey Shore to discuss ideas on how we can together make impact on this important issue within Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Our goal is to help foster the creation of something that can be used throughout New Jersey and beyond as a shining example of what can be achieved when a community works together to first understand and then, ultimately, eliminate structural racism.

The road ahead is long but one thing is certain, we will continue to be true to our mission to improve the quality of life for all members of our community by using philanthropy to drive economic excellence at the Central Jersey Shore. We could not do any of this without the hard work of our nonprofit partners, businesses and all who are on the frontlines keeping us safe, healthy and making sure our community and economy are thriving.

Stay safe, stay healthy and we look forward to better days ahead.

Sincerely,

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talked with Dr. Patrick Leahy, President of Monmouth University.

Listen as Dr. Leahy explains how “unprecedented times call for unprecedented collaboration.” He discusses how faculty, leadership, administration and board members collaborated across all parts of the campus to find solutions to keep students safe, continue providing education and safely open in the future. As Dr. Leahy says (referring to collaboration), “this may be one of the legacies to come from the global pandemic and may possibly reset the way in which decisions are made.”

Thank you, Dr. Leahy for all you do today and always.

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talked with Dana Lancellotti, Director of Ocean County Tourism and Business Development. Listen as Dana talks about how OC Tourism is evolving as the health crisis evolves, how the tourism industry is balancing economic growth and keeping people safe and healthy, and how tourism industry parters are working together to make the summer at the Central Jersey Shore what we’ve all come to know and love.

Thank you Dana and everyone involved in Ocean County Tourism for working hard to keep us safe and healthy while giving us so many opportunities to enjoy the Central Jersey Shore!

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talked to Gwen Love, Executive Director of Lunch Break. Listen as Gwen discusses how Lunch Break is safely keeping volunteers engaged, how they are collaborating with nonprofits and businesses and how the spirit of coming together enabled them to move quickly to make things happen to serve those in need.

THANK YOU Gwen and Lunch Break for all you do for our community today and every day.

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and today, Jeremy talks to Kenneth Malagiere, Executive Director of the Ocean County College Foundation. Listen as Ken discusses how OCC is collaborating with other organizations to help students, what the future might look like for higher education and how the OCC Foundation will support students in a new learning reality. You may even hear a surprise guest barking in the background!

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and this week, Jeremy talked to Dr. Kenneth Sable, regional president of Hackensack Meridian Health‘s Southern Market. Listen as Dr. Sable talks about the COVID-19 crisis in our community, how Hackensack Meridian hospitals are being innovative to help COVID-19 patients and how they are collaborating with partners internally and externally to provide the best care possible.

THANK YOU, Dr. Sable and all of our healthcare heroes for keeping us safe and healthy. We appreciate everything you do, today and every day.

It’s #CollaborationWednesday and this week, Jeremy talked with Kim Guadagno, President & CEO of Fulfill. This is a very real and deep discussion of what it looks like to be on the frontlines of the health crisis. Fulfill has been working around the clock, with so many businesses and organizations at the Central Jersey Shore to make sure people stay food secure. Listen as Kim talks about collaboration and how the global pandemic brought Fulfill together, even stronger, with more partners in our community. THANK YOU Kim and EVERYONE at Fulfill for all you do today and always.

This is the first video in our #CollaborationWednesday series! Each week, we will talk to Central Jersey Shore nonprofits and learn how they are partnering to make a bigger impact in our community during COVID-19. This week, we talked to our partners and friends, Laurie Goganzer, President & CEO of the YMCA of Greater Monmouth County, and Peter T. Rosario, President & CEO of the Ocean County YMCA.

Jeremy, Laurie and Pete had a great discussion on collaborating, how to navigate partnerships for greater impact, and what our YMCAs are doing together (and with others in the community) to help those who need it most.

Times are difficult right now, but this video is uplifting and hopeful. THANK YOU, Pete and Laurie for being our first #CollaborationWednesday guests. We appreciate ALL you do for our community today and always.