Save the Children is pleased to announce that global healthcare company GSK will donate $1.5 million over three years to help enhance the global nonprofit’s ability to respond to disasters in the United States.
The donation is aimed at maximizing the impact of Save the Children’s critical work, including helping to mobilize rapid responses to help children affected by natural disasters, strengthen the capacity of staff and volunteers and increase its efficiency through data system improvements. The announcement comes in the lead up to June 1, the official start of hurricane season.
“Disasters are scary and disruptive for kids – they take children away from their homes, their schools, their friends and can have lasting consequences,” said Jeanne-Aimée DeMarrais, Senior Director of U.S. Emergencies for Save the Children. “We are incredibly grateful to GSK for this grant which will grow our capacity and enable us to serve children across America in time of crisis.”
Save the Children and GSK have been global partners since 2013 and have reached 2.8 million children in 45 countries. The organizations have worked together in the U.S. since 2015, helping children cope with natural disasters, with GSK providing corporate and employee donations to directly aid children affected by recent disasters, including hurricanes Michael, Florence, Maria, Irma and Harvey, and to help communities, child-serving institutions and families develop plans to increase the resilience of children experiencing disasters.
“GSK is proud that we can help ensure that children receive needed supplies, aid, comfort and protection when natural disasters strike. GSK’s commitment to Save the Children underscores the vital need for effective partnerships between the private and nonprofit sectors for the benefit of the most vulnerable members of our communities,” said Jack Bailey, GSK President of US Pharmaceuticals.
The critical nature of the partnership was underscored last week when officials from Save the Children and GSK visited Wilmington, N.C., to meet with agencies supporting recovery and resilience efforts for local children following Hurricane Florence. “Watching Save the Children go into an area in need following disaster and witness how it puts smiles on children’s faces, reinvigorates caregivers and gives communities hope is incredible – it really brings our partnership to life,” said Becki Lynch, GSK’s Director of US Community Partnerships. “We are so proud to support Save the Children in their 100th year to strengthen their increasingly necessary disaster response efforts across the United States.”
In the U.S., Save the Children, GSK and the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University (NCDP) also collaborated on a three-year project to develop a set of free disaster-planning tools to help policymakers, educators, parents and communities prepare for natural disasters with children in mind. The project, called Resilient Children/Resilient Communities, was made possible by a $2 million grant from GSK, which continues to fund NCDP’s ongoing work in disaster-stricken regions of North Carolina and Puerto Rico.
GSK employees contribute their time, expertise and enthusiasm to support the partnership with Save the Children through the annual Orange United fundraising campaign and through volunteer engagements, including more than 100 skills-based volunteers working to improve children’s access to healthcare in 35 countries across the globe through the GSK PULSE Volunteer Partnership.
