Clorox Foundation to Donate $5 Million to Coronavirus Caregivers in Partnership With Leading Public Health Organizations

Foundation to Contribute $3 Million to Direct Relief, $1 Million to the CDC Foundation and $1 Million to American Red Cross to Care for the Caregivers as They Fight Against COVID-19

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The Clorox Company

Mar 17, 2020, 06:30 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., March 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Clorox Company Foundation announced today a wide-ranging series of grants to three organizations on the front lines of fighting coronavirus: Direct Relief, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation's Emergency Response Fund and the American Red Cross. The donations, totaling $5 million, will directly go toward "care for the caregivers" — people who are working with these public health organizations on the front lines to support public health.

"We are humbled by the work being done by these organizations in the fight against the coronavirus and want to join them in providing aid to caregivers who are performing heroic acts during this time of need," said Benno Dorer, chair of The Clorox Company Foundation and chair and CEO of The Clorox Company. "The private sector needs to act, and these donations are part of our longstanding history of providing support to public health organizations. In addition, we're doing everything possible to get our disinfecting products to people and communities as quickly as possible. In this unprecedented time, we must all work together to battle this pandemic."

Direct Relief Donation Has Potential to Help a Quarter-of-a-Million Caregivers

Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies. The Clorox Company Foundation's donation will have the potential to help approximately a quarter-of-a-million healthcare facility caregivers and employees across the United States responding to coronavirus. The efforts are focused in three areas:

Alleviating the strain on the nation's hospitals, emergency rooms and ICUs and its caregivers.
Providing assistance in the form of personal protective equipment to protect health workers.
Purchasing and distributing portable oxygen concentrators allowing ICU units to discharge patients on the other side of critical care for COVID-19.

"Support from private industry during this public health emergency is critical, and Direct Relief is deeply appreciative of the extraordinary step by Clorox to help in these extraordinary times," said Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief president and CEO.

CDC Foundation Emergency Response Fund

The CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund is mobilizing support to extend the lifesaving work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) COVID-19 response. The Clorox Company Foundation's donation will help bolster healthcare system and provider readiness, such as:

Managing needs for healthcare providers, from ensuring adequate medical supplies to workforce challenges, including childcare and family support.
Disease control including required tracking and follow-up as community transmission occurs and training for caregivers.
Expanding communication infrastructure between hospitals and state and local health departments.

American Red Cross Donation to Help Provide Safety to Frontline Caregivers and Donors

For more than 40 years, The Clorox Company has been a trusted corporate partner of the American Red Cross, strengthening its reach within communities both across the U.S. and around the world. The Clorox Company Foundation's coronavirus support will help American Red Cross provide for the safety and well-being of Red Cross frontline caregivers and donors through:

Enacting enhanced disinfecting measures to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, or any respiratory infection.
Bolstering temperature checks for donors and frontline caregivers, to protect the well-being of individuals at blood drives and donation centers.
Increasing American Red Cross' reach and capacity to help ensure blood products are available for patients in need, and mitigate risk to caregivers and donors.

The Clorox Company Foundation

Founded in 1980, The Clorox Company Foundation has a mission to improve the quality of life in communities where Clorox employees live and work. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded cash grants totaling nearly $115 million to nonprofit organizations, schools and colleges. In addition to providing cash grants to nonprofits, The Clorox Company Foundation supports the individual actions of employees by matching through our GIFT Campaign their personal donations of time and money. Community support has been, and will continue to be, an integral part of our culture.

The Clorox Company

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with approximately 8,800 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2019 net sales of $6.2 billion. Clorox is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. The company has been broadly recognized for its corporate responsibility efforts, included on CR Magazine's 2019 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, Barron's 2020 100 Most Sustainable Companies, the Human Rights Campaign's 2020 Corporate Equality Index and the 2019 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, among others. In support of its communities, The Clorox Company and its foundations contributed about $12 million in combined cash grants, product donations and cause marketing in fiscal year 2019. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com, including the Good Growth blog, and follow the company on Twitter at @CloroxCo.

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SOURCE The Clorox Company