Carl M. Freeman Foundation Donates $250,000 to Beebe Healthcare’s COVID-19 Relief Fund

Recognizing the crisis surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19), the Carl M. Freeman Foundation is donating $250,000 to be used for COVID-19 testing, including personal protective equipment, and the well-being of frontline healthcare professionals.

The Carl M. Freeman Foundation normally supports and promotes innovative community-based leadership and giving, but felt compelled to step outside of their normal giving window for this donation. The Foundation’s leaders felt it is important to help keep their employees, this community, and healthcare providers safe.

“We all have to do our part individually with physical distancing, and the Foundation wants to ensure that funding is available for testing of COVID-19 and PPE. Nothing could be more important today than to support your local healthcare system,” said Michelle Freeman, President and Chair of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation. “We care about the health of our employees, vendor partners and everyone in our community. Our employees live and work in Sussex County and we need healthy employees with access to prompt medical care during this time. We won’t be able to continue that without supporting Beebe’s ability to test for COVID-19. We want doctors and nurses working on the frontlines to be safe as well and our grant will support PPE for them.”

Beebe launched the COVID-19 Relief Fund to help purchase medical equipment, supplies, and costs directly associated with patient care enabling our team members to continue to do what it takes to keep everyone safe.

“The Beebe Medical Foundation is very grateful to the Carl M. Freeman Foundation for their transformational gift at this time of need,” said Tom Protack, President, Beebe Medical Foundation. “Michelle Freeman has always been a strong and loyal supporter of our community, and we are thankful for this special gift that will go directly toward helping us with our increased expenses for supplies and equipment for this pandemic.  No doubt, her legacy of philanthropy will be inspiring to others to support Beebe Healthcare.”

Members of the community looking to donate a monetary amount can visit www.beebehealthcare.org/covid19-relief.