Gates, a leading global provider of application-specific fluid power and power transmission solutions, has announced charitable donations of more than $535,000 in support of organizations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Directed by the company’s global headquarters in Denver, the Gates Industrial Corporation Foundation is working with nearly 100 Gates facilities around the world to identify and help fund local nonprofits that are making a difference. The Foundation also is offering double matching for U.S. employee donations to COVID-19-related organizations in this time of greatest need.
“At Gates, we take our responsibility as a global corporate citizen very seriously,” said Roger Gaston, executive vice president of human resources for Gates. “While we are an employer and an economic engine in nearly a hundred communities around the world, we are also neighbors who want to help out in the places we call home. For that reason, we’re empowering our local facility leaders and all of our employees to help us place resources where they will do the most good.”
Responding quickly to the global outbreak, Gates initiated the charitable initiative with a substantial donation to the Hubei Charity Federation to support the medical needs in the area where the virus is believed to have originated. The aid campaign now spans other parts of South and North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa; Greater China; and East Asia and India, including 17 locations across the United States. Among the recipient organizations are chapters of large NGOs, such as the United Way and the American Red Cross, as well as local hospitals, food banks and other humanitarian organizations.
Donations, totaling more than $535,000, are being provided on an unrestricted basis to allow recipient charities maximum flexibility to address the most urgent needs in their area. Among those are Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline medical professionals and health care services and food and housing for the most vulnerable populations impacted by the pandemic.
In addition to its worldwide charitable donation initiative, Gates says it continues to actively monitor, manage and adapt to the evolving pandemic. Thanks to prompt implementation of COVID-19 safety protocols at all of its approximately 100 plants, offices, labs and distribution centers around the world, Gates has been able to continue serving its customers and maintain employment levels while protecting the health and safety team members, their families and communities.