The Golden State Warriors, Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden Guardians and the Warriors Community Foundation have announced a joint-effort COVID-19 Impact Strategy as part of the organization’s ongoing Warriors In The Community effort.
“One of our top priorities as an organization at this time is our COVID-19 relief effort,” said Rick Welts, Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our COVID-19 Impact Strategy allows us to listen to the needs of Bay Area residents and respond with immediate support, while proactively collaborating with our civic, nonprofit, and corporate partners to design effective solutions moving forward.”
“The Warriors have a long history of supporting our Bay Area communities through volunteerism, charitable donations, and working with our corporate partners,” said Melanie Moore, Vice President of Community Relations and Executive Director of the Warriors Community Foundation. “We see ourselves as an anchor institution, and we look for opportunities to contribute to the well-being of our city and our region. We’re doubling down on our efforts during the current crisis, and as we get back to playing games, our commitment to strengthening our Bay Area communities will remain.”
Dating back to the announcement of the Warriors Community Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund on March 13, the COVID-19 Impact Strategy has evolved to include a focus on immediate and future support in four main categories:
- Supporting Chase Center and Golden State Warriors part-time and gameday workers
- Supporting healthcare and front-line workers
- Supporting communities in need
- Supporting education; teachers and students in need
As part of the strategy, Warriors front office staff members have participated in over 250 virtual volunteer opportunities during the NBA hiatus. The organization is planning a virtual volunteering week in late May, where employees will be tutoring, editing scholarship essays for high school students, participating in virtual reading events and calling senior citizens to check in on their well-being.
The COVID-19 Impact Strategy has activated various initiatives to address the four target areas of focus, including:
Supporting Chase Center and Golden State Warriors Part-time and Gameday Workers
- Immediately following the NBA hiatus announcement, the Warriors Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund announced an initial commitment of $1 million to support Chase Center and Kaiser Permanente Arena gameday staff and part-time workers. This contribution has since grown to $1.5 million.
Supporting Healthcare and Front-line Workers
- In partnership with Anheuser-Busch, the Warriors activated a social media bracketology fan contest that generated funds to be split equally between La Clinica De La Raza in Oakland and Mission Neighborhood Health Center in San Francisco.
- The Warriors donated over 4,200 shirts to NBC Sports Bay Area as part of the Bay Area Unite initiative, which will produce 50,000 masks for healthcare workers.
- Former Warriors player Zaza Pachulia donated more than 70 meals, via UberEats, to healthcare workers in San Francisco.
- Warriors forward Eric Paschall sent a video message to all PepsiCo West Division employees to thank them for their work on the front lines during this time.
Supporting Communities in Need
- The Warriors and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. partnered to contribute $25,000 to No Kid Hungry to help feed Bay Area students.
- The Warriors partnered with Peet’s Coffee to donate $13,650 and hundreds of pounds of coffee grounds to local food banks.
- The Warriors donated approximately 4,000 grocery bags to Oakland and San Francisco Unified School Districts, and 30,000 Hooptopia bags to Bay Area food banks when bags for food distributions were in short supply.
- The Golden Guardians, an esports affiliate of the Golden State Warriors, donated all merchandise sales from April to the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation.
Supporting Education; Teachers and Students in Need
- The Warriors Community Foundation announced $500,000 in grants, split equally among eight Bay Area non-profits, located in Oakland and San Francisco, as part of the Hoops For Kids platform, presented by Salesforce, with support from PG&E, the Koret Foundation and Taube Philanthropies.
- The Warriors Community Foundation matched a $100,000 donation from Head Coach Steve Kerr, and in partnership with an additional contribution from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the Foundation donated a total of $250,000 to the Oakland and San Francisco Unified School Districts, split evenly, to purchase technology for students.
- The Golden State Warriors hosted a virtual Read To Achieve event, presented by Ross Stores, with guard Ky Bowman, for teachers to use as part of their virtual classroom content.
- The Santa Cruz Warriors hosted a trio of virtual education events, all presented by Kaiser Permanente, including a Read To Achieve event, a Math Warriors event, and a Sea Dub Classics event, a program focusing on health and wellness activities for Santa Cruz County citizens ages 55 and older.