COVID-19 Response

We’re here for good.

Since 1972, we have invested in the Summit, NJ, community through grants to nonprofits that provide food, shelter, education, arts, culture and health programs. These groups make Summit home.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we have increased our commitment to Summit in two important ways:

We released an additional $100,000 in emergency grants to the following local nonprofits that are confronting emerging crises and are beyond the frontline medical facilities receiving much needed community support:

  • Bridges Outreach, Inc., to replace volunteer time and food donations for the homeless
  • The Connection, for ongoing expenses and to continue essential programming
  • GRACE’s Refrigerator, for food pantry items for Summit families facing food insecurity
  • The Summit Area YMCA, for ongoing expenses and to continue essential programming
  • SAGE Eldercare, for increased demand for Meals on Wheels
  • Summit Volunteer First Aid Squad, for a decontamination UV light machine for its vehicles
  • Summit Board of Education, for hotspot devices for families in need of internet access

We partnered with Mayor Radest and Summit Downtown, Inc., to help launch the Sustain Summit Fund to assist small businesses and their employees weather the storm. Some of us are longtime residents of Summit; others have recently put down roots here. All of us value the friendly retailers, restaurants and small service businesses that give our City the sense of community and vibrancy that we all cherish.

The Summit Foundation provided a 1:1 matching grant of $50,000 to the Sustain Summit Fund. Nearly 450 residents and area corporations donated to the fund, which produced $340,000 in grants to 127 businesses.

The Sustain Summit Fund’s success inspired anonymous donors to create Jumpstart Summit, a fund of $350,000 to assist local business owners as they reopen or expand operations. In return, the donor is asking recipients to “pay it forward,” if they are able, with an in kind donation to The Summit Foundation. Recipient donations will support local nonprofits.

Pay It Forward

To start a conversation about how you can pay it forward, contact us at [email protected].