Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Awards Nonprofits $6.3 Million in Coronavirus Emergency Grants

VIRGINIA G. PIPER CHARITABLE TRUST Press Release
Mar. 30, 2020

PHOENIX, Ariz.—Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has swiftly awarded $6,340,000 in emergency grants to support Maricopa County science, human services, and arts and culture nonprofits during the unprecedented economic crisis caused by the swelling outbreak of COVID-19.

Two-thirds, or $4.3 million of the Trust’s emergency grant funding, will go to support human services and arts and cultural nonprofits that are facing myriad threats from the COVID-19 outbreak and its economic fallout, such as staggering revenue losses from event cancellations and declining donations. Human services organizations are handling a dramatic increase in community need for their services while workforces shrink, as many volunteers must shelter in place.

“Now is the time for those who can—individuals and public and private sector organizations—to step in quickly and support our nonprofits,” said Mary Jane Rynd, president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. “They are serving on the frontlines and are essential to our health and economic vitality.”

Arizona State University’s (ASU) Biodesign Institute will receive a $2 million grant to expand its automated, rapid diagnostic testing to mitigate the viral spread and potential reoccurrence of COVID-19. “ASU is in a unique position to scale up our testing efforts to support round-the-clock testing and analyze hundreds of samples daily,” said Dr. Joshua LaBaer, director of ASU’s Biodesign Institute, who also serves as the Piper Chair in Personalized Medicine and leader of the Biodesign Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics. “We have an urgent window right now to make an impact through testing and save lives in our community.”

The Piper Trust grant will support ASU’s response to COVID-19 emergency preparedness in three areas: testing of critical workforce including healthcare workers, first responders, and essential infrastructure personnel; assembling of nose and throat swab test kits in short supply for healthcare providers; manufacturing of personal protective equipment such as face shields through its 3D printing rapid response services.

Last week, Piper Trust, the Flinn Foundation, NARBHA Institute, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona each awarded $100,000 to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope to support the use of advanced biomedical technologies for testing and state-of-the art genomic analysis of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This funding supports the initial costs of TGen’s efforts to get in front of the COVID-19 global health threat.

Following outlines the grantee recipients of $4.2 million in COVID-19 emergency grant awards to human service and arts and culture nonprofits.

HUMAN SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS
As frontline providers serving our most vulnerable populations, 28 human services organizations will receive a total of $2,040,000. These grant funds will support their respective community responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

Grants of $250,000
Association of Arizona Food Banks • The Salvation Army • The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Grants of $100,000
Benevilla • Catholic Charities Community Services • Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. • Foundation for Senior Living • Human Services Campus, Inc. • Native American Connections, Inc. • Phoenix Rescue Mission • Southwest Human Development

Grants of $50,000
André House of Arizona, Inc. • Central Arizona Shelter Services • ICM Food and Clothing Bank • Paz de Cristo Community Center • Wesley Community and Health Center

Grants of $20,000
About Care, Inc. • Aster Aging, Inc. • Chrysalis Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, Inc. • Duet: Partners in Health & Aging • Family Promise-Greater Phoenix • Esperança, Inc. • Maggie’s Place • Neighbors Who Care, Inc. • New Life Center • one∙n∙ten • Save the Family Foundation of Arizona • Sojourner Center

ARTS AND CULTURE ORGANIZATIONS
Arts and cultural organizations are an essential part of our community fabric and make significant contributions to our regional economy. The combined $2,200,000 in emergency grant funding will help these 44 nonprofits offset the major economic losses they are experiencing and support their respective community responses to COVID-19.

Grants of $150,000
Arizona Science Center • Desert Botanical Garden • Heard Museum • Phoenix Art Museum • The Phoenix Symphony • Phoenix Zoo • Scottsdale Arts

Grants of $100,000
Arizona Opera • Arizona Theatre Company • Ballet Arizona • Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation • Phoenix Theatre

Grants of $75,000
Children’s Museum of Phoenix • Childsplay, Inc. • Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West

Grants of $50,000
Arizona Musicfest • Chandler Cultural Foundation

Grants of $25,000
Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona • Herberger Theater Center • i.d.e.a. Museum • Phoenix Boys Choir • Phoenix Center for the Arts • Theater Works • Valley Youth Theatre

Grants of $10,000
Act One • Arizona Jewish Historical Society • Black Theatre Troupe, Inc. • Fountain Hills Theatre, Inc. • Jazz in Arizona, Inc. • Mesa Arts Center Foundation • Phoenix Conservatory of Music • Phoenix Girls Chorus, Inc. • Rosie’s House: A Music Academy for Children • Southwest Shakespeare Company

Grants of $5,000
Artlink, Inc. • CALA Alliance • Greasepaint Youtheatre • iTheater Collaborative • Musical Theatre of Anthem • Phoenix Chamber Music Society • Phoenix Chorale • SOUNDS Academy • West Valley Arts Council • Xico, Inc.

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About Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust:
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $472 million in local nonprofits and programs. Piper Trust grantmaking areas are healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations; grantmaking to organizations by core area and/or year is available online at Grant Search. For more information, visit pipertrust.org | @PiperTrust | Facebook.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Karen Leland, 480-556-7125 / kleland@pipertrust.org
Chief Communications Officer, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust

Joe Caspermeyer, 480-727-4858 (o) / 480-258-8972 (m)
Manager, Media Relations & Strategic Communications, Arizona State University