Blog Post
A Note from Jennifer Gross
I sincerely hope this note finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. I want to thank you for taking the time, in the midst of so many global events and disruptions, to visit this site and to take a look at what the Blue Chip Foundation has been working on.
The last few months have shown us, above all, just how fragile the systems we rely on as communities can be. But it has also shown us the deep resiliency that people from every part of every community bring to moments of crisis. I know I am not alone in being both humbled and inspired by the millions of people making a difficult moment easier for their loved ones, their neighbors, their fellow citizens.
The scale of the world’s needs at this moment - and the degree to which they are evolving and growing week by week - has upended the philanthropic world’s established strategies and ideas about how to optimize its resources and contribute meaningfully. There is no longer any such thing as ‘business as usual’, and it would be irresponsible not to reevaluate our giving strategies and assumptions. My husband and I are no exception. To date, we have focused a significant amount of the Blue Chip Foundation’s
work outside the US, yet we find ourselves increasingly drawn to doing more to help battle the destructive impacts of the coronavirus at home in the U.S.
Yes, the world will look different in the post-COVID era as we take stock of the country’s shared hardship and losses. How will we move forward? Now is the moment to be thinking about that and to make plans for how to rise up and rebuild our communities and systems in a way that is more just and more sustainable than before. Blue Chip will take part in that process, and we hope to engage with the broader giving community to learn from their ideas and share our own in a way that champions transparency, collaboration, and big sky ambitions as we do.
