Bridgestone Retail Operations (Bridgestone), a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, announced it raised more than $3.6 million in 2020 for Boys & Girls Clubs of America as part of their nationwide Driving Great Futures partnership. A large portion of the 2020 funds went to help Club kids and teens gain access to high-impact, out-of-school support amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the $3.6 million is a $200,000donation from the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund to help fund technology gaps and support ongoing virtual programming needs.
“Boys & Girls Clubs of America is always a critical resource for kids and families, but even more so as they pivoted to provide essential services like meal delivery and Wi-Fi hot spots for Club kids who abruptly moved to new ways of learning due to COVID-19,” said Marko Ibrahim, president, Bridgestone Retail Operations. “Despite these challenging times, the generosity of our customers and teammates did not waver, and we are grateful for their support as we continue to drive great futures together.”
In addition to contributing $1.6 million to the Boys & Girls Clubs COVID-19 Relief Fund in 2020, Bridgestone awarded 40 transportation grants in December to Boys & Girls Clubs across the country.
The grants were used to help with maintenance and repairs of existing vehicles or the purchase of new Club vehicles. The $200,000 donation from the Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund, combined with $300,000 in Q4 customer donations, will provide half a million dollars toward technology grants that will provide Clubs with equipment, enhanced internet access, hotspots and other resources needed to keep Club kids connected to their schoolwork and after-school programming.
“This has been a difficult year for all of us, and Bridgestone continues to help us with the biggest obstacles we face—getting kids to and from our Clubs, and helping those kids get and maintain access to technology while remote learning,” said Jim Clark, president and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “The Bridgestone Driving Great Futures program gave us a lift in 2020, and we are excited to also provide additional technology support to many of our Club youth thanks to the Trust Fund donation and additional in-store donations.”
Since 2015, Bridgestone has raised and contributed a total of $15.3 million for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since it began its nationwide Driving Great Futures partnership. The program is part of the Bridgestone Our Way to Serve corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment to improve the way people move, live, work and play.
