DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Howard G. Buffett Foundation announced its commitment of up to $1 million to address food and medical resource needs in Macon County.Â
"Rural areas like Macon County are likely to experience delayed effects from this global pandemic but when we do, it will be when state and federal resources are the most stretched," said Buffett.
The money will be used to target two area of support. The first is for support of food aid to community residents who can't afford or who can't access the food they need during mandated self-quarantines or social distancing policies. The second target area is for healthcare. It will make sure healthcare workers have critical supplies they need to meet medical care demands.Â
"We really appreciate the resources the Howard G. Buffett Foundation is providing for Decatur and Macon County," said Kevin Greenfield, Chairman of the Macon County Board.
The Mayor who is heading the Resource Taskforce praised Howard Buffett for his dedications, "Our community rises to its very best when we are confronted by crisis, and we are extremely grateful for the support from Mr. Buffett to help us meet the news of our most vulnerable."
"We need to be mobilizing all of our local government and community support services immediately to anticipate those effects and secure the resources we need to mitigate the impact on our community. The goal of our Foundation's commitment is to fill in the gasp and augment the resources that will be available as part of the state and federal response. As a community, we especially need to ensure we are prepared to support kids who depend on free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs if public schools close and the elderly in our community who are most at risk from exposure to the virus."Â
The Foundation will publicly share the details of how funds will be allocated as they are identified and committed.Â
