Ronald McDonald House of Southern NJ (RMHSNJ) has been able to provide food, personal protective equipment (PPE), and entertainment for families they serve thanks in part to a $16,000 grant from the Community Foundation of South Jersey’s (CFSJ) COVID-19 Response Fund.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, medical care for many patients whose families relied on RMHSNJ had to continue while others had their care postponed, but they were unable to travel home and as a result. They were forced to isolate themselves in place. In response, the RMHSNJ staff worked tirelessly to purchase and provide food for these families as community chefs were not allowed access to the house, offer entertainment like bingo and trivia with other families through Zoom, and provide safety equipment such as masks and hand sanitizer. The CFSJ COVID-19 Response grant also helped RMHSNJ with the extra costs of sanitizing the house from top to bottom, providing personal trips from the hospital and back to help keep families safe, and holding a 4th of July socially distanced barbeque and lawn sprinkler fun for the kids.

“The grant from the Community Foundation of South Jersey allowed us to help families already in tough situations,” said RMHSNJ’s Teddy Thomas. “Children could not stop being ill or needing medical care. With this support, we were able to feed, keep safe, and entertain all our families while making sure patients could safely get to hospitals for their treatments. We are very grateful for the support the Community Foundation was able to give us along with other South Jersey non-profit organizations in need.”

“We appreciate what the Ronald McDonald House of Southern NJ does for local families, as well as, families from around the world, and we are proud to be able to help them during this unprecedented time,” said CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “The work they have undertaken to ensure the health and safety of patients and to maintain high morale among their families is inspiring to see, and we are happy to play a small part in their success.”

The South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund continues to assist local nonprofits that need support in order to serve communities impacted by the pandemic. To date, the Fund has raised $1 million, but this is not enough to meet the overwhelming need.   If you would like to support the only such Fund where donations stay in our South Jersey region, please visit southjerseyresponsefund.org.

The South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund, which is managed by Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ), awarded $10,000 to Inspira Health in a new round of grant allocations. The grant allows Inspira Health to fund emergency assistance directed to the Human Resources Department in order to surge their hospital staff. 

Inspira Health worked diligently to properly prepare for the spike in COVID-19 cases by increasing the amount of personal protective equipment, ventilators, and beds; while also turning standard care patient areas into negative pressure rooms and erecting tents outside its emergency departments to enhance safety in the event ER volumes rose sharply. Inspira Health was able to pay for some of these preparations with the assistance of emergency funds.  

Most recently, the South Jersey Response Fund grant Inspira received was used to recruit additional hospital employees and contribute to hospital readiness.  This included recruiting an additional 62 staff members to care for the high volume of COVID-19 patients during the height of the pandemic such as nurse aides, lab assistants, and respiratory staff.

“We are very thankful to the Community Foundation of South Jersey for the grant they awarded our health network as part of the COVID-19 Response Fund,” said Nick Sena, Director of Development of Inspira Health Foundation. “The funding helped us make the necessary additions to our staff to keep our community safe as we responded to the effects of the virus.”

“We are so proud to provide Inspira Health with a grant from the COVID-19 Response Fund,” said Andy Fraizer, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of South Jersey. “The heroes at Inspira have done so much for our community, and this grant is only a small token of our appreciation for their dedication to defeating this virus.”

The Community Foundation of South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund continues to assist local nonprofits that need support to serve communities impacted by the pandemic. To date, the Fund has raised over $1 million in donations, but this is not enough to meet the overwhelming need. If you would like to support the only such Fund where donations stay in our South Jersey region, please visit southjerseyresponsefund.org.

The Community Medical Center Foundation’s (CMCF) mission is to support the programs and services provided by Community Medical Center in Toms River. Using a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ), CMCF is helping the hospital offset the increased need for personal protective equipment (PPE), structural changes to combat the virus, and supplies.

For more than 55 years, Community Medical Center has been a trusted acute-care hospital offering state-of-the-art health and wellness services dedicated to the health and well-being of the Ocean County community.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Medical Center has invested heavily in PPE, equipment rentals such as ventilators and tents, prescription drugs, maintenance, repairs, and the creation of negative pressure rooms for COVID-19 positive patients.  

“Every contribution, regardless of size, will help during this time of need as we confront the effects of the global pandemic,” said CMCF Vice President Jennifer Shufran. “Ensuring the safe treatment of COVID-19 patients is quite expensive.  Health centers throughout our region are facing financial challenges, so we are grateful to CFSJ for this vital grant.  It will help save lives.”

“The hospital workers on the frontline fighting this virus need our support, and we are glad to be able to do our part to help these workers and keep them safe,” said CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer. “The work Community Medical Center is doing to save lives and protect the community is admirable.”

The Community Medical Center has tested over 9,000 individuals in addition to an initiative to test all long-term care facilities in the area.  Community Medical Center has been able to discharge more than 550 COVID-19 patients who beat the virus and were healthy enough to go home.

The Community Foundation of South Jersey COVID-19 Response Fund continues to respond to local nonprofits that need support to serve communities impacted by the pandemic.  To date, the Fund has received more than $1 million in donations but more is needed.  Grant requests from nonprofits have exceeded $6 million. To support the only such Fund where donations stay in our South Jersey region, visit www.southjerseyresponsefund.org.