Blackstone Portfolio Companies’ COVID-19 Relief Efforts

May 05, 2020

This post was last updated on May 12, 2020. Please check back for regular updates. 

Over the past several months, Blackstone and our portfolio companies have been supporting COVID-19 relief measures in the communities where we live and work. Last month, Blackstone announced a $15 million contribution to COVID-19 relief efforts in New York, supporting first responders and assistance for frontline healthcare workers.  Our portfolio companies across the globe have been active in their own communities by providing resources to frontline workers, donating or delivering food to at-risk populations, and aiding struggling small businesses.  Stay up to date on all of Blackstone’s COVID-19 relief efforts here: 

Frontline relief efforts

NEC Group, a leading live events business in the United Kingdom, is providing its Birmingham exhibition venue as a dedicated field hospital for COVID-19 patients, rent free, to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Lionel Assant, Blackstone’s Head of European Private Equity, said in an interview, “like the rest of the country we want to help in any way we can during this crisis, including putting the entire NEC facility at the disposal of the NHS for as long as it needs it.”   

Employees at SERVPRO, a cleanup and restoration company, have been involved in a number of relief efforts. These include assembling care packages for US Army personnel deployed to New York City to build a COVID-19 hospital, providing meals to US Army Fort Campbell Troops managing the Jacob Javits Medical Center, and franchises across the country are answering  requests for first responder vehicle cleanings at no charge. 

Sema4, a patient-centered health intelligence company, has partnered with the state of Connecticut and regional healthcare providers to address the pressing need for COVID-19 testing. Available to doctors in Connecticut and New York, Sema4’s technology can process and analyze 6,000 COVID-19 tests per week and return results within 24-48 hours.

RG Barry, a clothing manufacturer, donated 100,000 masks to help protect New York City’s healthcare workers and Alight Solutions, a cloud-based human resources solutions provider, donated 58,000 masks to its local health department in Illinois. 

Additionally, Latrobe Financial donated AUS$1M to support frontline medical staff at Epworth Hospital in Australia. Bridger Aerospace, a local aerial wildfire management, response and suppression company, provided its aerial transportation resources to airlift emergency supplies and blood drive services for patients in Bozeman, Montana hospitals.

Food security and community support efforts

In response to school closures, property managers ShopCore Properties and LivCor expanded their CoreGiving program, partnering with food banks across the country to meet the need for meals that would have been provided at school. In less than 30 days, CoreGiving exceeded its goal of raising $500,000 and together, ShopCore and LivCore funded the equivalent of 2.5M meals in affected communities. In addition, Vungle, a technology company founded in the UK and headquartered in San Francisco, is partnering with local charities to provide food security to their communities in California and the United Kingdom. 

While some portfolio companies are partnering to raise funds for food security, others are gathering and donating available resources to their local communities. In Las Vegas, The Cosmopolitan Hotel donated over 104,000 pounds of items such as food products, fresh produce and room essentials to local charities Three Square, The Just One Project and Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. In addition, Great Wolf Lodge, a water park chain, donated over 15,000 pounds of produce and refrigerated food items to regional organizations in North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Colorado.

In Hawaii, Blackstone’s Grand Wailea, Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Turtle Bay Resort and Kona Beach Hotel donated more than 7,000 pounds of fresh produce and essentials such as bed linens, toilet paper, shampoo, shower gel and more to local nonprofits. The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua also hosted a Farmers Market to provide employees fresh produce, and an opportunity to connect with resources such as assistance with submitting unemployment claims and access to online educational and counseling to support them in this difficult time. Grand Wailea also provided groceries to over 800 team members to make meals for Mother’s Day as a part of their Share and Care initiative. Lastly, Turtle Bay Resort launched a Farmer Produce Purchase Assistance Program, allowing produce grown on Turtle Bay Resort farm lands to be purchased and donated to local residents and employees.

In New York City, Blackstone’s Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village instituted a new initiative, Team Good Neighbor, wherein nearly 1,500 residents have volunteered to assist at-risk residents with errands and assemble thousands of bags of groceries and ‘care bags’ filled with sanitizer, masks and gloves. The StuyTown Food Pantry, a partnership with City Harvest, is providing food to residents faced with financial hardship. To date, pantry volunteers have organized and distributed over 70 tons of food to over 2,100 families. Learn more about their volunteers, like Elijah Smalls, Resident Manager of Kips Bay Court here.

As StuyTown works to support its community, they’re also supporting New York City’s frontline workers by offering free StuyTown apartments and parking spaces for traveling nurses at Mt. Sinai. Further, StuyTown’s “Peter Coop Scoops” ice cream truck has been delivering pre-packaged ice cream to local hospitals in an effort to share a bit of happiness during these times.

Relief for small businesses

In the United Kingdom, The Arch Company, manager of 5,000 small and medium businesses underneath the UK railway arches, announced a Hardship Fund of £10 million for independent small businesses severely impacted by COVID-19 to fund three months’ free rent for tenants in need. Leading online dating platform, Bumble, offered $1 million in grants to small businesses impacted by COVID-19.

Learn more about Blackstone’s COVID-19 relief efforts here.

Learn more:

• Alight Solutions donated 58,000 masks to its local health department in Illinois
• The Arch Company announced a Hardship Fund of £10 million for independent small businesses severely impacted by COVID-19 to fund three months’ free rent for tenants in need
• Bridger Aerospace provided its aerial transportation resources to airlift emergency supplies and deliver blood drive services for treat patients in Bozeman, Montana hospitals
• Bumble offered $1 million in grants to small businesses impacted by COVID-19
• The Cosmopolitan Hotel donated over 104,000 pounds of items such as food products, fresh produce and room essentials to local charities Three Square, The Just One Project and Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada
• The Grand Wailea, Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, Turtle Bay Resort and Kona Beach Hotel donated more than 7,000 pounds of fresh produce and essentials such as bed linens, toilet paper, shampoo, shower gel and more to local nonprofits
• Grand Wailea gifted 800+ team members fresh groceries to make homemade Mother’s Day meals as a part of their larger “Share and Care” initiative to support Maui families.
• Great Wolf Lodge donated over 15,000 pounds of produce and refrigerated food items to regional organizations in North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Colorado
• Latrobe Financial donated AUS$1M to support front line medical staff at Epworth Hospital
• NEC Group is providing its Birmingham exhibition venue as a dedicated field hospital for COVID-19 patients, rent free, to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Watch as it is transformed into a temporary field hospital here.
• RG Barry donated 100,000 masks to help protect New York City’s healthcare workers
• Sema4’s technology can process and analyze 6,000 COVID-19 tests per week and return results within 24-48 hours.
• SERVPRO employees have assembled care packages for US Army personnel deployed to New York City to build a COVID-19 hospital, providing meals to US Army Fort Campbell Troops managing the Jacob Javits Medical Center, and across the country, franchises are answering requests for first responder vehicle cleanings at no charge.
• ShopCore Properties and LivCor expanded their CoreGiving program, partnering with food banks across the country to meet the need for meals that would have been provided at school, funding the equivalent of 2.5M meals in affected communities.
• Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village instituted a new initiative, Team Good Neighbor, wherein nearly 1,500 residents have volunteered to assist at-risk residents with errands and assemble thousands of bags of groceries and ‘care bags’ filled with sanitizer, masks and gloves.
• StuyTown Food Pantry, a partnership with City Harvest, is providing food to residents faced with financial hardship. To date, pantry volunteers have organized and distributed over 70 tons of food to over 2,100 families.
• StuyTown’s “Peter Coop Scoops” ice cream truck has been delivering pre-packaged ice cream to local hospitals
• Turtle Bay Resort launched a Farmer Produce Purchase Assistance Program, allowing produce grown on Turtle Bay Resort farm lands to be purchased and donated to local residents and employees.
• Vungle is partnering with local charities to provide food security to their communities in California and the United Kingdom