(WXYZ) — IKEA Retail U.S. donated $1.2 million towards Michigan's COVID-19 Response and Recovery Initiative.
This is the largest donation to the fund to date, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, and will help support Michigan's ongoing relief efforts.
“Michigan families, frontline workers, and small businesses have done their part to slow the spread of the virus, but the fight is not over yet. I am grateful that IKEA has stepped up during this difficult time to ensure we have the funding we need to provide critical services to Michiganders impacted by COVID-19,” Whitmer said in a press release “This donation will be crucial to saving lives and providing much-needed support throughout our COVID-19 response.”
“We are appreciative of the ongoing support from the state of Michigan, including the unemployment funds paid to our co-workers who were furloughed in the early weeks of the pandemic,” Javier Quiñones, IKEA Retail U.S. president, said in a press release. “People are the heart of our business, and the state unemployment benefits helped IKEA US co-workers during a difficult time. We now have a better understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on our business, and we’ve decided to “pay it forward” to support the ongoing COVID-19 Response and Recovery Initiative in our local communities.”
The initiative helps leverage federal resources, including FEMA funds, that require a match to provide critical services and needs to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations are allocated to allocated to provide food and water, education support for children, and personal protective equipment, and other essential activities as needs are identified.