Two weeks ago, our team was talking about the horrifying news coming out of India—a place with deep personal ties to many of us, whether we live there or not. We knew we needed to find a way to help our partner entrepreneurs and their jobholders during the severe second wave of Covid that is still spreading across India.
At Upaya, our expertise is in creating deep, long-term impact through job creation. Emergency aid is not typically in our wheelhouse. We have, however, built out a strong network of small businesses with innovative entrepreneurs operating in vulnerable communities—the places that are being hit hardest by the pandemic. Through our partner companies, we imagined we could get funds directly into those communities to alleviate the suffering our entrepreneurs or their jobholders were feeling.
While money isn’t a sufficient answer to this overwhelming crisis, it is a necessary piece of the puzzle. So, with a mental goal of raising $10-$20,000, we agreed to dedicate our GiveBIG fundraiser—an annual state-wide campaign to generate support for nonprofits in Washington state—to helping our partners protect their jobholders.
Over the next week, you—our amazing Upaya community—took our breath away. Through the GiveBIG page, through Facebook donations, through foundation grants, and gift after gift coming through our website, we raised over $47,000. It was inspiring to all of us—thank you!
Your Gifts In Action
Over the past week, our team has identified a group of partners to receive immediate stabilization grants or grants to help them build on the support they are already providing to their jobholders. Knowing that time matters in a crisis like this, we moved fast. We have signed grant agreements and already wired funds worth $32,500 to the partners. We expect the rest to go out in the next few days.
These grants will enable our partner companies to meet the most critical needs of their companies and their jobholders. Some will use the grants to supplement their payroll to ensure their jobholders continue to receive an income while staying home. Others want to know that they will have cash to pay their suppliers—their jobholders—while their own customers have stopped ordering. One company is providing food rations, sanitation kits, and medical support to 6,000 individuals living in slums.
This pandemic has taught us all humility and the risk of making assumptions and looking too far ahead. We can’t predict how much longer it will be until everyone can feel safe again, leaving their homes and hugging their friends. Until that time though, please know that the entire Upaya team extends our deepest gratitude and virtual hugs for your immediate and immense generosity when we called on you.
Thank you.
