Tulare, CA – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact California, Bank of America has donated one million surgical masks to support essential agricultural workers across the state. Of those, 200,000 will be sent to the Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner to distribute to farmworkers in the county. This Bank of America mask donation is in addition to the 174,000 masks and 800 eight-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer the Bank’s Fresno market recently donated to six Fresno and Tulare County nonprofits, including 50,000 to the Central Valley Farmworker Foundation, 46,000 to the Healthy Harvest program, and 16,000 to the Latino Mayor’s Coalition. The bank this year has also provided over $570,000 in COVID-19 relief grants to nonprofits in the two counties. Throughout the pandemic, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has partnered with businesses and organizations to distribute additional supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) to California’s essential workers.
“Partnerships with the private sector has been invaluable as we continue to respond to the pandemic and the needs of our essential workers. We are thankful for Bank of America’s donation of one million surgical masks which demonstrates we are truly in this together,” said Abby Browning, Chief, Cal OES Office of Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Coordination.
Providing PPE to frontline workers is an important part of COVID-19 response by augmenting existing efforts to protect the health and safety of those in our critical sectors.
“As a major employer and essential business in California, Bank of America understands that we have a responsibility to help protect the most vulnerable members of our community in these challenging times,” said Thong Nguyen, Vice Chairman, Bank of America. “With our donation of one million PPE masks to the State Office of Emergency Services for distribution to our agriculture workers who have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, we are helping to protect essential workers and the critical supply chain that feeds much of our nation.”
The million surgical masks will be provided to agricultural commissioners in Imperial, Fresno, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties who will coordinate distribution to agricultural workers in those communities.
Cal OES’ Office of Private Sector and NGO Coordination has a strong history of working through partnerships with private sector, philanthropic, and non-governmental organizations during emergency response and recovery including the current COVID-19 pandemic, the 2018 Camp Fire, 2017 North Bay Fires and numerous other emergencies.
If you are a business or organization interested in donating supplies, please visit www.covid19supplies.ca.gov to learn more.
###
The International Agri-Center® is home to World Ag Expo® Online, February 9-11, 2021. An estimated annual average of 100,000 individuals from 65 countries attend World Ag Expo® each year. The largest annual agricultural show of its kind, World Ag Expo® hosts more than 1,400 exhibitors displaying cutting-edge agricultural technology and equipment on 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space. Plan your visit at www.worldagexpo.org.
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 66 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,300 retail financial centers, including approximately 3,000 lending centers, 2,600 financial centers with a Consumer Investment Financial Solutions Advisor and approximately 2,200 business centers; approximately 16,900 ATMs; and award-winning digital banking with approximately 39 million active users, including approximately 30 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.www.bankofamerica.com